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t LlBHAliY OF CONGRESS. | 

I UNITED STATK8 OF AMERICA. |l 




H^H 



ADISON, 



THE 




CAMTAL OF WISCONSIN 



ITS 



GROWTH, PEOGRESS, CONDITIOiN, 



WANTS AND CAPABILITIES. 



COMPILED BY 

LYMAN C. DRAPER, 

rOR. SECtiKTARY STATE HISTORICAL SOtlETY OF WISCONSIN. 



Printed by order of the Common Council of the City of Madison* 



yi A D 1 S O N : 

CALKlSir & I'KOVDirr, CITT I'RI.NTKRS. 

1857. 





TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Introductor J, 3 

Wisconsin, its Progress, Condition and Prospects, 5 

Wisconsin and Iowa contrasted, 9 

Settlement and Growth of Madison 10 

Madison, its Capabilities and Destiny, 14 

Dane County and Madison in 1856, 18 

G. W. Featherstonhaugh on Madison in 1 837, 21 

Madison in 1837. by Gen. Wm. R. Smith, 22 

Horace Greeley's Impressions, •- 22 

Bayard Taylor on Madison, 23 

Impressions of Prof. Noble Butler 23 

D. S. Curtiss' Impressions, 23 

Dr. John W. Hunt on Madison, 24 

Hon. J. C. Fairchild's Opinion, 24 

Four Lake Country, 25 

Healthfulness of Madison," 27 

Permanent Resources of Madison, 28 

Building and Business in Madison for 1857, 31 

Manufacturing and Industrial Interests Necessary, 33 

Dane County Peat Beds, 34 

State University, 34 ! Catholic Church, 40 



Commercial College, 35 

Seminaries, 35 

Public Schools, 35 

Board of Education, 35 

State Historical Society, 36 

Madison Institute, 37 

Madison Libraries, •. 37 

Newspapers and Periodicals, 37 

State Agricultural Society, 3S 

Dane County Agricultural Society,. 38 

Lake Side Retreat, 38 

Hydiaulic Company, 39 

Gas Light and Coke Company, 39 

Mutual Insurance Company, 39 

Banks and Banking, 39 

City Cemetery, 39 

Wild wood Cemetery, 39 

Dane County Bible Society, 39 

Baptist Church, 40 

Presbyterian Cliurcli, 40 

Episcopal Church, 40 

Methodist Church, 40 

Congregational Church, 40 

Unitarian Society, 40 



German Evangelical Society, 40 

Jewish Society, 41 

Madison Lodge, 41 

Hiram Lodge, 41 

Concordia Lodge, 41 

Madison Chapter, 41 

Hope Lodge, I. O. O. F., 41 

Madison Encampment, I, O. O. F.,. . 41 

Excelsior Division, S. of T., 41 

Capital Lodge of G. Templers, 41 

St. George's Society, 41 

Gymnastic Society, 41 

Madison Typographical Union, 41 

Value of Merchandize, &c,, sold,... 42 

Value of Manufactures, '. 42 

Tables of Population, 43 

List of Business Men, 44 

Post Office, 46 

U. S, Government, 47 

State Government, 47 

Dane County Officers, 47 

City Officers, 48 

Fire Department, 48 

Map and View, ( cover) 3-4 



MADISON, 



THE 



CAPITAL OF WISCONSIN 



ITS 



GKOWTH, PKOGRESS, CONDITION, 



WANTS AND CAPABILITIES. 




COMPILED BY 

LYMAN C. DRAPER, 

COR. SECRETARY STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN. 



Prepared and Printed by order of tbe Common Council of the City of Madisoni 



MADISON : 

CALKINS It PROUDFIT, PRINTERS. 



1857. 



INTRODUCTORY 



Of this little work it need only be said, that it is chiefly made up of 
carefully prepared papers which have already been in print in some form 
01 other — corrected and brought down to the present time, to correspond 
with facts and things as they now exist. Something of the kind is needed 
to reflect the present condition, wants and capabilities of our thriving 
City. It has been two years since any pamphlet has been published on 
Madison, and then at private expense, and limited in size and number; 
lince which the business of the City has fully doubled, and numerous 
•hanges and improvements have been effected. The repeated and in- 
creasing demands from abroad, for full and detailed information relative 
to the business and prospects of Madison, have led our prominent citi- 
zens and business men to petition the Common Council to publish a 
large edition of a pamphlet on the growth, condition, statistics and pros- 
pects of our City. This request has been promptly met, by ordering 
10,000 copies of this little work published. The statistics have been 
collected with much care, and may be generally regarded as reliable; 
and the several papers on the growth and capabilities of Madison and 
Dane County, have been prepared by competent persons, whose facts 
and statements are derived from the most authentic sources. 

Two brief articles on Wisconsin precede the papers on Madison, and 
these are introduced to show strangers who may design settling in the 
West, and may know but little of our State, that Wisconsin holds out 
inducements and advantages to be found in no other State or country. 
And of such a State is Madison the worthy political metropolis, whose 
history, condition and prospects are here attempted to be faithfully por- 
trayed. L. C. D. 



WISCONSIN: 

ITS PROGRESS, CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 



If coming events cast their shadow before, Wisconsin must needs be- 
come the " Empire State." The youngest now of the five giant offsprings 
of the immortal Ordinance of '87, she is yet in swaddling clothes — whilst 
Ohio, the oldest, is now fairly decking herself in the ''Toga virilis.'^ 
Wisconsin, altho' the youngest of the "five," has given evidence, by her 
vigorous growth, her sinewy, nervous frame, and her feats of infantile 
prowess, of what may be expected of her adult age. 

As her growth in the past has not depended upon a miracle, so her fu- 
ture development will result from natural causes. Other States have 
grown because they contained natural elements of activity and wealth. 
These elements exist in Wisconsin to a degree not found in any other 
State west or east. We have arrived at this conclusion after looking over 
the whole course of past increase in population and wealth in this and 
other States, and fearing the criticism of this opinion may be the too 
common expression of "humbug," or be traced to that boastful spirit 
which abounds in vague generalities that prove nothing and satisfy but 
few, we append reasons for this opinion, and challenge the severest scru- 
tiny. Geographical position is a most important element of growth and 
prosperity. Wisconsin is located between 42° and 47° 50^ of north lati- 
tude. This is the northern temperate region, and is the one in which man 
has exhibited most energy and development. Her atmosphere is cool, 
clear and dry, and consequently invigorating. Bilious and miasmatic 
affections, the scourges of Michigan, Illinois and Iowa, are little known. 
Health and longevity, two most desirable blessings, are consequently at- 
tainable here. From a table of the last United States census, (an impar- 
tial report, of course,) we obtain the following facts : 

This table gives the relative health, progress and deaths of the several 
States, and illustrates that the number of deaths in ratio to the number of 
living is — in the State of Maine, 1 to 77; Vermont, 1 to 100; Connecticut, 
1 to 64; Illinois, 1 to 73; Iowa, 1 to 94; Wisconsin, 1 to 105; — and this is 
not only a fair comparison among the above named States, but exhibits 
the least number of deaths, proportionate to the population, in Wisconsin 
of any State in the Union. 

Commercial Advantages can be ascertained by simply mentioning her 
position — on her eastern border is Lake Michigan, on the north, Lake 
Superior; and on these Lakes, in conjuction with Lake Erie, already floats 
a commerce, by the tabular statements of the census returns, greatly ex- 
ceeding our entire foreiiui trade — on her west runs the Mississippi river, 
the entire length of the State, 400 miles, connecting her with St. Louis, 
New Orleans and foreign nations. These facts need no comment. Sta- 
tistics prove that the exports of Wisconsin for last year amounted to more 

[5] 



6 



WISCONSIN : ITS PROGRESS, 



than sixteen millions dollars. Her soil is an element Of wealth not suffi- 
ciently known to be fully appreciated. Wisconsin is pre-eminently an 
agricultural State, and is capable of becoming as wealthy as any one of 
the western sisterhood. By the late census and other data, it may be safe 
and fair to calculate that there are about one and a half millions acres of 
cultivated land in the State; which, as now occupied, constitutes about 
50,000 farms, more or less tilled. There were shipped from Milwaukee 
over two millions bushels of wheat the past season. 

Besides this one and a half millions acres of improved land, there is, 
within the area of the State, above 30,000^000 acres of land, of which at least 
20,000,000 is suitable to be converted into productive and pleasant farms 
— enough land to make two millions additional farms — waiting for occu- 
pants; and may be purchased at low prices, ranging from $1,25 to S60 
per acre. 

In regard to the value of improved lands in the new States, the same 
report shows that the average value is — in Illinois, $7,99; in Iowa, $6,09; 
in Texas, $1,09; and in Wisconsin, it is $9,58 — a very fair show for a 
young State. 

And by looking carefully through the tables, we find that the average 
value of products per acre, exceeds that of the other States named, in 
about the same proportion that the land exceeds theirs per acre in value. 
Draw a line from Manitowoc to Portage, thence directly to the Falls of 
St. Croix, the farming lands lying south of this line, and comprising nearly 
one half the State, are not equalled in all respects as farming landSj in. 
any State, of the Union ; on which an industrious farmer can raise from 
30 to 50 bushels of wheat, or from 50 to 80 bushels of corn to the acre. 
North of this, a belt of hard timber extends east and west 150 miles on 
the latitude of Stevens Point — from 50 to 100 miles in width. The soil 
of this region is fertile, but the timber is its present wealth. Unlike the 
prairies, building material for fences is convenient, and no country pro- 
duces better or more wheat — the staple crop. The indigenous and culti- 
vated grasses flourish admirably, and combined with numerous streams, 
afford the best facility for grazing. This peculiarity, (abundance of 
water,) pervades the entire State, and presents inducements for cattle 
growing not found in the other prairie countries, where running water is 
ibund at distances too great for cattle. The water power on the St. Croix, 
Black, Chippewa, Rock, Crawfish, Wisconsin and other rivers, surround- 
ed by these agricultural regions, and every kind of raw material, and 
abundant lumber — without any competition in the Mississippi valley — 
this water power is but partially used, but in time must be most valuable. 
Eastern men can appreciate this important fact, and we need but desig- 
nate the points to make the water power of this State an important ele- 
ment of wealth and greatness. 

The immense Pineries at the source of these rivers are convenient to 
their various falls — taken into account with the scarcity of timber in Illi- 
nois, Iowa and Missouri — afford us treasures inexhaustible. They are 
at present demanded by these States. Most of these rivers empty into 
the Mississippi, and are navigable for rafts, whilst not a few are accessi- 
ble at certain seasons to boats of large size. 

On the south-west, the country abounds in Lead, which is extensively 
worked; on the north, the Copper mines have challenged the interests of 
eastern capitalists. These mines give employment to labor, and ofTer a 
home market for immense agricultural products, as well as foster manu- 
facturing on a most extensive scale. With all these, we have a system 
of railroads traversing the State, and reaching the most desirable points 
above mentioned— and without this advantage, many of these sources of 
wealth would be lost. Her natural scenery equals any State of the Union. 



CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 7 

We have stated facts, and from them what are our most reasonable 
deductions'? Is not her course in accordance with her motto, '^ Forward?" 
In 1840, Wisconsin had 30,000 inhabitants; in '50, 305,000: in '55, 552,- 
000. In population she has out-stripped all the Western States, no one 
having increased ten fold in ten years. In five years she has nearly 
doubled her population, having increased 247,000; whilst Illinois, a grow- 
ing and rapidly increasing State, has added but 30 per centum to her 
population. 

The territory of Wisconsin is larger than either New York, Pennsylva- 
nia, Ohio or Indiana. The last, by the last census, had a population of 
1,000,000, the next before, 2,000,000, the second, 3,000,000, and the first, 
in round numbers, 4,000,000. Wisconsin has a richer soil than New 
York, and more acres susceptible of cultivation than New York or Penn- 
sylvania. The S. E. counties of Wisconsin are the only settled portions 
of the State, whilst the north and north-west are comparatively a wilder- 
ness. Taking the population of New York as 4,000,000 lor our data of 
calculation, and taking into account that she has a larger proportion of 
sterile land than Wisconsin, and that the city and environs may be 
regarded as national and dependent upon position, we may safely give 
the rural districts 3,200,000 ; and, moreover, were she as densely popu- 
lated as Massachusetts, she would have 6,000,000 ] these being the data, 
and Wisconsin one fourth larger, would contain 7,500,000, with the same 
number to the square mile. Taking the growth of Ohio and Indiana as 
a data for Wisconsin increase, we can safely predict, in five years 800,000*" 
inhabitants, in ten years, 1,100,000. in fifteen years, 1,500,000, in twenty- 
five years, 3,000,000, in fifty years,' 5,000,000. These are subjects chal- 
lenging the attention and interest of all desirous of seeking a home, and 
a State with special advantages. 

The advantages presented in the preceding, impress every visitor to 
the State, and have induced greatly the improvements we have simply 
glanced at. The chairman of the Board of Trade of the Chamber of 
Commerce of Cincinnati, visited this State last summer. We know the 
writer, and no man is belter qualified, by travel, reading and observation, 
to give a correct opinion than he. The following extract from a letter 
written during a summer tour, will exhibit his opinion of the present, and 
from it we may deduce the future greatness of the State. 

In a communication to the Cincinnati Gazette of the 9th of August, 
1855, he says : 

" One peculiarity, wherever I traveled in Wisconsin, struck me foi'cibly, viz : the apparent high 
degree of culture, cleanliness and thriftiness of the farms. There is not half so much to remind 
one of a ntio country as there is in Ohio and Indiana, and this is attributable chiefly to the fact, 
that almost every quarter section, in its natural state, is ready for plowing and fencing without 
the labor of felling trees enough to burden the navy of the world ; and partly to the iact that the 
class of settlers are tlio oft-shoots from the hardy and industrious sons of New England, or the 
farmers of Western New York and Northern Ohio. Fifty years' labok in Nkw England, or 

TWENTY years' TOIL IN OHIO, ARE NOT EQUAL IN THEIR RESULTS TO FIVE INDUSTRIOUS YEARS IN 

Wisconsin, T. " 

Here is told in plain, simple and concise language, facts that could not 
be more forcibly or truthfully delineated in a column, and are the obser- 
vations of a man whose opportunities and capabilities for judging, are 
equal to any man's in the Union. 

The Legislature of our State has fixed the rate of interest, by contract, 
at 12 per cent., and has repealed all laws forfeiting the principal, if inter- 
est beyond this sum be agreed on. Our laws now, whilst fixing the rate 
at 12 per cent., require a tender of the prmcipal, before a suit can be 
brought to recover any excess, giving a freedom to the value of money, 

* This article was written less than a year and a half since — the population of the State has made 
far more astonishing strides than is here predicted, for the population is now, in April, 1857, not 
lees than one million — vide population tables near the close of this pamphlet. L. C D. 



3 WISCONSIN : ITS PROGRESS, CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. 

unknown in any other State in the Union. We doubt not this will bring 
the surplus capital of other States to ours, and will aid in developing our 
valuable resources. 

Health and longevity have ever engaged the attention of the benevo- 
lent and scientific. The selection of a home has many responsibilities — 
none more imperative than climate. The denizen of the North must pay 
the penalty of acclimation in a Southern latitute. This most frequently 
ultimates in diseases only terminable with life. The Southerner cannot 
with impunity remove to a Northern climate without similar penalties. 
A climate without either extreme, or one approximating the 45th deg., 
(being equi-distant from the equator and pole,) would a priori be a com- 
mon ground of compromise and safety. The latitude of Wisconsin is 
between 42° and 47° 50^, and thus from geographical position, is not lia- 
ble to objections existing either North or South. Individual experience 
confirms this fact — yet with it we have incontrovertible truths to sustain 
the position, that this parallel is not only the most healthful, but that 
business, general prosperity, and all the elements of social life we have 
most happily combined. One of these truths is, that no nation ever has 
arrived at or for any period maintained greatness or wealth, unless in the 
changes of climate in that nation, winter be found to exist. If the win- 
ter be even protracted or severe (not too extreme in either respect) it is 
better than no vicissitude. The ice bound coast on which the May- 
Flower landed, was as evidently the direction of Providence, as were the 
principles of the Pilgrims traceable to the Being "from whom cometh 
every good and perfect gift.'^ The necessities of our forefathers under 
a rigorous climate, made them not only the most thrifty, but the most 
enterprising and successful of their age. We are on a parallel with 
Boston, with more than 20° less depression in temperature, and with 
climatic advantages beyond conception. We have no easterly or north- 
eastern winds, sweeping over thousands of miles of ocean, robbed of 
heat and balminess, to terrify the infirm or aged. 

We have winters commencing about the 10th of December — terminat- 
ing in March — characterized by many peculiarities, yet noted for no in- 
conveniences incompatible with health, comfort, and business. Snows 
here are never deep, — strong, persistent winds are unknown in winter — 
and rain seldom falls after the middle of December, until the early rain 
unlocks the frost and gives life and being to vegetation ; the rain guage 
shows a fall of but 25 inches during the year, — the usual average east is 
about 53 inches. Our summers are cool and not variable, and the atmos- 
phere during the entire year is remarkable for its clearness, dryness, and 
transparency. No country can surpass the purity and clearness of the 
water in this. It is convenient and accessible — springs and natural lakes 
are the predominant characteristics. These things are not miracles, but 
are dependent on natural laws, governing countries of certain geographi- 
cal and topographical position. The latitude of Philadelphia is about 40° 
north, yet from position, the vicissitudes of climate are greater than with 
us. There the winter is somewhat shorter and apparently concentrated ; 
yet its changes are destructive to comfort and health. New York is liable 
to similar but greater objections. With every change of wind there the 
temperature changes — all from the contiguity and antagonism of large 
bodies of land and water, can never be averted. Our position, approxi- 
mating the centre of the continent, exempts us from these changes; and 
this blessing is manifested in general good health and a corresponding 
physical development. We have no epidemics — no endemics ; mias- 
matic aff'ections, with their countless ills, are unknown here — and the 
lustre of the languid eye is restored, and paleness of the faded cheek 
disappears when brouiiht into our midst. 



WISCONSIN AND IOWA CONTRASTED. 



WISCONSIN AND IOWA CONTRASTED. 

By the U. S. census of 1840, Iowa had a population of 43,112, and by 
that of 1850 it was 192,214. The census of Iowa down to June, 1856, 
raised it to 503,625. Here is an addition of 460,543 to the return of 1840, 
equal to nearly eleven fold in 15 years, 5 months. If we go back to the 
enumeration of 1836, being 10,531, the increase is 493,094— equal to 4,700 
per cent in 20 years 5 months. 

It has been said that Wisconsin has increased in a somewhat similar 
degree. The figures in the U. S. census of 1840 and 1850, show a greater 
advancement than in Iowa. That btate had in 1840, 43,112; in 1850, 
192,214, being an augmentation of 149,102 in ten years, equal to 448 per 
cent. 

Wisconsin in 1840 contained 30,946 persons; in 1850, 305,391. In- 
crease 274,446 in ten years, equal to 887 per cent. In 1836 the return 
was 11,683; in 1850, 305,391, an increase of 293,708, equal to 2500 per 
cent in 14 years, while Iowa gained 1100 per cent in 15 years 5 months. 
Thus far the comparative rate of advancement of population in the two 
States terminates in 1850, there bemg no returns from Wisconsin later 
than that period,* while tho^e of Iowa are to June, 1856. Now as the 
increase of numbers in Wisconsin from 1836 to 1850 has been 2500 per 
cent within that period, while there has been an increase of only 1100 
per cent in 20 years and 5 months, it will be far within the limits of pro- 
bability, if the ratio of increase in Iowa from 1850 to 1856 be adopted as 
the ratio of increase for Wisconsin in the same period. 

In Iowa the population amounted in 1850 to 192,214 ; in 1856, 503,625, 
a gain of 311,411, equal to 162 per cent in 5 years and 5 months. The 
population of Wisconsin in 1850 M'as 305,391 ; at 162 per cent increase, 
the numbers down to June 1856 must have been 800,124. 

But to complete the comparison between the two States, we must go 
back to the returns of population in Wisconsin. In 1836, she num- 
bered 11,683 ; in 1856, as we have estimated, they had risen to 800,124, a 
gain of 788,441 in 20 years and 5 months, equal to 6850 per cent; while 
Iowa gained in the same period of time 4700 per cent. 

These flourishing States entered the Union, Iowa in 1846, and Wiscon- 
sin in 1848, and their increase of wealth corresponds in a degree to their 
increase of population, so far as returns have been made. With such 
authentic and undeniable proofs of advancement, no one, it is conceived, 
can complain of extravagance in asserting that Wisconsin "is increas- 
ing with gigantic strides.'^ And, we will add, so are all the free States 
in the western and north-western sections of the country. 

If further evidence were wanting in support of what has been alleged 
in favor of the rapid growth and prosperity of these infant States, it may, 
it IS conceived, be found in the following statement of facts, drawn from 
official sources : 

1. The addition to the population of Wisconsin from 1850 to June 1856, 
being 5 years and 5 months, amounting to 494,733 persons, is greater than 
the number of free inhabitants contained in nine of the slaveholding 
States in 1850,— the last United States enumeration. 

2. The State of Wisconsin, in 20 years 5 months from her admission 
into the Union, contained 800,124 inhabitants, being 28,700 in excess of 



* The writer of this article seems not to have been aware of the State census of Wisconsin of 
1855, when the population had increased to 552.109. At this date, (April, 1S57,) judging from the 
increased vote of the State, the population of Wisconsin must be fully one million, as already indi- 
cated. ^ ^- ^- 



IQ MADISON : ITS SETTLEMENT AND GROWTH. 

the free people of every slaveholding State in the Union, except Virginia, 
and largely in excess of all but tliree slaveholding States. 

3. Virginia, now and heretofore termed '"the Empire State of the 
South,'' contained in 1850,949,133 free citizens, being only 149,019 in 
excess of the population of Wisconsin in 1856. The former State, the 
second in size, and in some respects the finest territory in the Union, is 
two and a half centuries old, while her more prosperous and youthful 
competitor is but one fifth of a century old. — Boston Daily Advertiser. 



MADISON: 

ITS SETTLEMENT AND GROWTH. 



''The settlement of Madison," observes the Hon. A. A. Bird, in his 
recent inaugural address as Mayor, " was commenced in April, 1837. 
At that period almost the entire territory between Lake Michigan and 
the mining country bordering on the Mississippi River was a wild and 
unsettled country, inhabited only by the ' Sons of the Forest.' At tLat 
time and during'a few subsequent years, there was a greater number of 
Indians at Madison and in what was then termed the ' Four Lake Coun- 
try,' than at any other point south of the Wisconsin River. They seemed 
to cling to Madison and its beautiful lakes with a determination not to 
leave until called to the 'Spirit Land.' Our beautiful lakes, the fisheries 
and game, the beautiful country bordering upon the lakes, the hills and 
dales and groves had become so associated with their very being, that it 
was to them a paradise on earth. 

" The General Government required the removal of the Indians to the 
country west of the Mississippi. It was found necessary to procure the 
aid of the army in removing them to their homes ; it was a difficult mat- 
ter for the soldiers to collect them together. It was a touching scene to 
witness the departure of those who had spent a lifetime in a land made 
so beautiful by nature from which they w^ere to be removed. The differ- 
ent emotions exhibited by these 'Sons of the Forest,' were worthy the 
pencil of the painter. They were leaving the land of their fathers, the 
spot dearest to them on earth ; passing westward, upon reaching Univer- 
sity Hill, they took a long and last farewell of the spot endeared to them 
by early associations. The grove and lakes on which they had sported 
from childhood, where they had followed the flying deer, and impelled 
the light canoe, were to be seen no more." 

The site of Madison attracted the attention of Hon. James D. Doty, as 
early as 1832. In the Spring of 1836, in company whh Hon. S. T. Mason^ 
of Detroit, he purchased the tract of land occupied by the present city. 
The first cost of this tract was about $1,500. The territorial legislature 
which met at Belmont, Lafayette county, the next winter, passed an act - 
locating the Capital here, and John Catlin and Moses M. Strong staked 
out the center of the village in February of the same winter. In the 
mean time commissioners were appointed by the General Government, 
to construct the Capitol edifice : Messrs. James D. Doty, A. A. Bird, and 
John F. O'Neil, were the commissioners. Eben Peck was sent on with 
his family to erect a house, where the men employed in building the 



MADISON : ITS SETTLEMENT AND GROWTH. 1 1 

Capitol might board and lodge, and was the first settler at Madison. He 
arrived on the 14th of April, in 1837, and put up a log house, which 
remains standing to this day, upon its original site, on block 107, Butler 
street. This was for about a year, the only public house in Madison. 

On the 10th of June succeeding, A. A. Bird, the acting commissioner 
for constructing the Capitol, accompanied by a party of thirty-six work- 
men, arrived. There was no road, at that time, from Milwaukee to the 
Capital, and the party were compelled to make one for tlieir teams and 
wagons as they came along. They left Milwaukee on the first of June 
with four teams. It rained incessantly, the ground, drenched with water, 
was so soft that even with an ordinary road their progress would have 
been slow, but when to this are added the obstructions of fallen trees, 
unbridged streams, hills whose steepness labor had not yet mitigated, and 
the devious course which they necessarily pursued, it is not surprising 
that ten days were spent in accomplishing a journey, which, since the 
advent of the iron horse into the Four Lake country, we are able to per- 
form in a little more than three hours. They forded Rock river near the 
site of the present city of Watertown, and the Crawfish at Milford. The 
first glimpse they had of the sun during their journey was on the prairie, 
in this county, now known as Sun Prairie — a name given it at that time, 
as a compliment to the luminary which beamed forth so auspiciously 
and cheerfully on that occasion, and possibly to encourage Old Sol to 
persevere in well doing. 

Among the party that came with Bird was Darwin Clark, Charles Bird, 
David Hyer, and John Pierce • the latter accompanied by his family, 
being the second settler with a family. 

On the same day that this party reached here, Simeon Mills, now a 
resident of Madison, and well known through the county, arrived from 
Chicago. John Catlin had been appointed postmaster, but was not here, 
and Mr. M. acted as his deputy. He erected a block building, fifteen 
feet square, and in this opened the postoflice and the first store in Madi- 
son. The building is yet extant, and at present stands in the rear of a 
blacksmith shop, and is used as a coal house. 

During the following month John Catlin arrived, and was the first mem- 
ber of the legal profession that settled in Madison. William N. Sey- 
mour, another old settler and well known citizen, came here the same 
season, and was the second lawyer in the place. 

The workmen upon the Capitol proceeded at once to getting out stone 
and timber for that edifice, and, on the Fourth of July, the corner stone 
was laid, whh due ceremony. Speeches were made on the occasion and 
toasts drunk, whether in cold water, or some stronger beverage, tradition 
does not mention. 

The first framed building erected was a small office for the acting corn- 
missioner; the first framed dwelling was built by A. A. Bird. This still 
stands upon its original site, on the bank of Lake ]\lonona, back of the 
Capital House. The boards used in these buildings were sawed by hand. 
A steam saw mill, to saw lumber for the Capitol, was buiU during the 
latter part of the same season, on the shore of Lake Mendota, just below 
the termination of Pinkney street. In the month of September, of the 
same year, John Stoner arrived, being the third settler with a family. A 
Methodist clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Stebbins. then Presiding Elder of the 
Territory, preached the first sermon delivered in Madison, during the 
same month. 

Four families, with their inmates and guests, constituted the entire pop- 
ulation of Madison, and with two or three families at Blue Mounds, the 
whole population of Dane county duriui^the winter of 1837-8. 

In the spring of 1838, Messrs. A. A. Bird, Simeon Mills, William A. 



12 MADISON ; ITS SETTLEMENT AND GROWTH. 

Wheeler, and others, who spent the winter here, brought on their fami- 
lies and became permanent residents. During the summer the Madison 
Hotel was built, and the first session of the Supreme Court of the Terri- 
tory was held in July, in the sitting room. Judge Dunn, of Lafayette 
county, was then Chief Justice, with Judges Frazier and Irwin as asso- 
ciates. The work on the Capitol went on somewhat slowly. On the 8th 
of November, the Wisconsin Enquirer, by J. A. Noonan, made its appear- 
ance, being the pioneer paper at the Capital. 

The resident population of Madison the second winter was about one 
hundred souls. The first female child born in Madison was Wisconsinia 
Peck, born in the fall of 1837 ; the first male child was Madison Stoner, 
born in 1838. Dr. Almon Lull, the first physician, settled here during 
the same year. 

The Wisconsin Enquirer of May 25th, 1839, contains an article respect- 
ing Dane county, in which the population of the county is estimated at 
over three hundred, more than half of whom resided in Madison. This 
was, doubtless, too high an estimate, as the population by the census of 
1840 was but 314. The village then contained two stores, three public 
houses, three groceries, and one steam mill — in all, thirty-five buildings. 
The same article states that prices had ranged during the year then past 
as follows: Corn, $1,25 per bushel; oats, 75 cents; potatoes, $1,00 ; 
butter, 37 J to 62-J cents ; eggs, 37i to 75 cents per dozen; pork and beef, 
from 7 to 12 cents per pound. The anniversary of our national indepen- 
dence was celebrated in due style, for the first time in Madison, this sea- 
son. John Catlin, Esq., was President of the day; A. A. Bird and Simeon 
Mills, Vice Presidents. The Declaration was read by Geo. P. Delaplaine, 
and the oration pronounced by William T. Sterling. Hon. E. Brigham 
acted as Marshal. 

For a number of years the growth of the village was slow. Immediately 
• after the location of the Capital, all the lands in the vicinity were en- 
tered by speculators, and lots and land were held at a prospective value. 
The location being at a central point between the Mississippi and Lake 
Michigan, the advancing army of immigrants, on either hand, found a 
wide, fertile, and beautiful extent of country, at that time nearer market, 
and therefore holding out superior attractions to the agriculturist. They 
did not consequently care to indulge the speculator's appetite for fancy 
prices. This condition of affairs continued until 1848. In the meantime 
the fertile valley of the Rock river had been filled with settlers, and im- 
migration began to turn into Dane county, which possesses a soil as 
bountiful and a surface ol country as attractive as any county in the State, 
but which, before it was tapped by railroads, was too far from market to 
render agriculture remunerative. 

The beginning of the real prosperity and growth of Madison com- 
menced with the admission of the State into the Union in 1848. The 
Constitutional Convention then permanently located the Capital here; un- 
til that time there had been fears of its removal, and capitalists had hesi- 
tated to invest their money in the vicinity. Since that period its progress 
in wealth and population has been rapid and constant. 

In 1847, L. J. Farwell, of Milwaukee, attracted by the beauty of the 
location, and foreseeing its advantages as the natural business centre of 
the interior, the point of convergence of the principal lines of travel, and 
the Capital of the State, made an extensive purchase of real estate, com- 
prising a portion of the village plat and of lands lying adjacent, which 
included the unimproved water power between Lakes Monona and Men- 
dota. To the active enterprise, the liberal policy, and the public spirit of 
this gentleman, Madison is largely indebted for her present prosperity 
and growing greatness. During the following winter he commenced the 



MADISON": ITS SETTLEMENT AND GROWTH. 13 

improvement of the Madison water power. The fall between the lakes, 
as taken by a number of engineers, varied from three feet ten inches to 
four feet eleven inches. This variation was unquestionably owing to a 
variation in the lakes at the several times the levels were taken. Lake 
Monona being much the smaller, would be more affected by a rain storm 
than the other. In the spring of 1849, a dam was built across the outlet 
of Lake Mendota, and its waters raised about two feet. The Yahara, or 
Catfish river, which connects the lakes, being very circuitous, and its 
channel obstructed by logs and brushwood, a straight canal was cut from 
one lake to the other. Lake Monona has since been lowered one foot by 
removing obstructions, rendering the water power one of the best in the 
State. Lake Mendota forms a reservoir of water so extensive that the 
longest drought ever known in the country would not affect it materially. 
During the summer a long building was erected at the outlet, with a saw 
mill in one end, and two runs of stone in the other for grist work. Tibbits 
& Gordon's brewery was erected the same season, just below the mill. 
The Court House was commenced, and the walls completed the next 
summer, and it is probably the best county building in the State. 

On the first of May, 1850, L. J. Farwell commenced his large grist and 
flouring mill. It was finished the following autumn, and contains eight 
runs of stone. He also opened Williamson street and the Fort Winne- 
bago and Milwaukee roads across the Yahara that season. During this 
year the first dormitory building of the State University was erected. 

The most noticeable buildings erected during the year 1851, are the 
fine large stone dwelling houses to the north-west of the Capitol, built 
and occupied by L. B. Vilas and J.T. Marston, Esqrs. 

The following year. 1852, was marked by a number of important im- 
provements. Messrs. Marshall and llsley erected the fine stone building 
on Pinkney street, occupied by the State Bank, and issued the first bank 
bill under the general banking law of the State. Governor Farwell com- 
menced the work of reclaiming the low, wet land, north-west of the 
Capitol, ditched and planked Washington avenue, and planted some six 
thousand forest trees, mostly cotton wood and soft maple from the bottom 
lands of the Wisconsin river, along the streets. The low moist nature of 
the ground is well adapted to these trees, and they are growing finely. 
Messrs. Simeon Mills and John Catlin erected a large stone block, three 
stories in height, upon King street. Travel had increased to such an ex- 
tent that the public houses, of which there were quite a number — the 
United States; the American, which had been enlarged to three times its 
original capacity; the Madison Hotel; the Kentucky House, and Lake 
House, besides two or three German public house, were found inade- 
quate to afford the requisite accommodations. A Joint Stock Hotel Com- 
pany was accordingly formed, and the walls of the foundation and first 
story of the Capital House were laid this season. 

The Joint Stock Company proved a failure; they were unfortunate in 
letting their contract, and the work was suspended, when Messrs. Vilas, 
Fairchild and Farwell bought the property in the spring of 1853, and 
completed the Hotel the same season. It was leased for a term of years 
to Mr. T. Stevens, who furnished it in a superior manner, and it is 
now conceded, on all hands, to be the best Hotel in the State. During 
the same year J. C. Fairchild, Esq., erected the large stone block on the 
corner of Morris and Pinkney streets; and Messrs, Bruen and Farwell 
the fine stone block on corner of Washington avenue and Pinkney street, 
which is one of the finest buildings in the West. The Presbyterian 
Church was completed, and the foundation of the Catholic Cathedral 
laid, which, when completed, will be a magnificent structure of great 
architectural beauty ; and the fine large brick Church of the Baptist So- 



14 MADISOX : ITS CAPABILITIES AND DESTINY. 

ciety was erected, though not fully completed until the following year. 
Washington avenue was opened on the west side of the Capitol Park 
the same year, and King street very much improved. 

During the fall, the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad Company selected 
their Depot grounds, and the Depot building was commenced. At the 
time the grounds were selected, which are now sprinkled over with 
warehouses, dwellings, &c., they were covered with a thick growth of 
coppice-wood. 

The Railroad Bridge, begun the year previous, was finished in the 
spring of 1854, the Depot building completed, and the first train of pas- 
senger cars came across the bridge on Thursday, the 18th of May. The 
track, however, was not laid up to the Depot until the Monday succeeding; 
and on Tuesday, the 23d, the celebration took place. The completion of 
this road has infused fresh vitality and energy into every channel of busi- 
ness, and has already tripled the trade and the population of Madison. 
It has since been continued on to the Mississippi, and is now completed. 

Among the improvements made in the year 1854, the second dormitory 
building of the State University; the fire proof county buildings, and 
over three hundred and fifty dwelling houses may be reckoned. A new 
bridge was built across the Yahara; and Ex-Governor Farwell extended 
Washington avenue through his lands to the distance of a mile towards 
the north-east. This magnificent avenue, which has been opened by the 
individual enterprise of Gov. F., is now two miles in length, graded to 
a level, eight rods in width, and has a double row of trees — the inner 
rows cotton wood, and the outer, maples — upon each side. It terminates 
at the point where the various roads coming into town-from the east, 
north-east, and south-west converge. When within a quarter of a mile 
of the Capitol Park it ascends, by a smooth and easy grade, the summit 
of the elevation crowned by the Capitol. 

The year 1855 was marked by many important improvements — a large 
Water Cure establishment, the finest in the North-VVest, which is now 
known as the Lake Side Retreat, and where the beneficial eff'ects of water, 
judiciously applied, are combined with diet, exercise, and all other means 
for the removal of disease known to Nature, Art, and Science; Gas-works 
for lighting the city ; new stone blocks by Simeon Mills, Messrs. Mains, 
Nolden and others ; the splendid stone residences of Ex-Gov. Farwell, 
Messrs. Kendall, Jarvis and others, and several miles of plank side-walk 
were laid. 

Nor was the year 1856 one of less prosperity. The fine stone blocks 
of Fox and Atwood, P. H. Van Bergen, R. S. Bacon, Mrs. Trevoy and Mr. 
Rasdell; Billings and Carman's large plough factory, city engine houses, 
and several fine private residences, were among the buildings erected. 
The change, in April of this year, from a village, into a City organiza- 
tion, whh Hon. J. C. Fairchild as the first Mayor, marked a new era in 
the progress of Madison ; and this was soon followed by fixing Madison 
as the starting point of the great Land Grant Railroad north-westerly to 
Portage City, Lake St. Croix and Lake Superior. 

For the year 1857, the signs of the times are auspicious — the new 
Capitol, State Lunatic Asylum, City Hall, main University Hall, a builcj- 
ing for the Post-Ofiice and U. S. Court Room, three new Churches, and 
four City School-Houses, Railroad Depots, together with many private 
enterprises, will mark the year as one of unusual activity and progress. 

MADISON, ITS CAPABILITIES AND DESTINY. 

It is only twenty years, the 14th of April, since Eben Peck, the first 
settler of Madison, arrived here with his family. The only other settlers 



MADISON: ITS CAPABILITIES AND DESTINY. 15 

then within the present limits of Dane county were Ebenezer Brigham 
and Abel Rasdel. At the close of the next nine years, we find Madison 
with a population of 283, and Dane county 8,289; and the next nine 
years swelled the population of Madison to nearly 7,000 in February, 
1855, and to about 11,000 at the present date, and the county to not less 
than 45,000. Such are the results produced in twenty years, some of 
which were years utterly unfavorable to progress and settlement. Until 
the past three years, we had no railroad facilities; produce, from its long 
distance from market, would scarcely recompense the toiling farmer for 
his labor in its production; the whole population, with scarcrly an ex- 
ception, were struggling in poverty against these discouraging and depress- 
ing influences — and yet, despite them all, Madison and Dane county have 
made astonishing advances in all the elements of wealth and greatness. 
These days and years of poverty, hardship and depression, have forever 
passed away, and our political metropolis and empire county may now 
safely calculate on continued and increasing prosperity. 

We never so well estimate the growth and capabilities of a 'own or 
section of country, as when we make a fair and just contrast with some 
other and older town or region, with the progress of which we are famil- 
iar. For this purpose, let us compare the State of Rhode Island with 
Dane county. Providence, the capital and chief town of Rhode Island, 
with Madison. Dane county has an area of about 1250 square miles, or 
nearly 800,000 acres of land; while Rhode Island is slightly larger, hav- 
ing an area of 1300 square miles — thus exhibiting very nearly an equal 
surface. This New England State was two hundred and fourteen years 
in attaining a population of 147,000, as indicated by the census of 1850, 
and Providence, during the same period, reached to 41,000, having nearly 
doubled its numbers in the last ten years. Dating back from 1837, when 
Madison received its first settler, and when Dane county had but two 
families, we find our county increasing for the first seven years, and up 
to 1844, about fifty per cent, annually, and from 1844 to 1850, when the 
population was 16,500, the total increase for that period was over three 
hundred per cent. Since 1850, the population of the county has nearly 
tripled, and may be safely estimated at 45,000. At these rates of in- 
crease, it will not take Dane county to exceed thirty-five or forty years at 
most, from the starting point in 1837, to attain a population equal to that 
of Rhode Island in 1850, which required two hundred and fourteen years 
for that State to acquire. 

In 1755, Rhode Island had a population of 35,000 — about the same as 
Dane cuunty possessed in 1855; showing that Rhode Island was one hun- 
dred and nineteen years in attaining a population, which Dane county 
reached in eighteen years. The city of Providence, in 1800, just one 
hundred and sixty-four years after its first settlement, exhibited a popula- 
tion of 7,600 — while Madison has reached that number in 18 years. In 
the pasty?/??/ years, Rhode Island has slightly more than doubled her 
population, while Dane county has nearly tripled hers in the last 
seve7i years: and Providence, during the same period, has, upon an aver- 
age, doubled its numbers once in twenty years, while Madison has doubled 
its population, upon an average, once in every two and a half years. — 
These are facts which any one curious in such statistical contrasts may 
easily put to ihe test, by a proper reference to the ofticial documents in 
our public libraries. Nor is this a solitary instance — the same careful 
contrasts with Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Albany, or 
almost any other old settled place, will exhibit the growth of Madison in 
quite as favorable a point of view. 

Though Madison has doubled its population upon an average once in 
every two and a half years, and during most of the period when every 



X6 MADISOIS- : ITS CAPABILITIES AND DESTINY. 

thing seemed to be against its progress, there may be some who will 
doubt the safety of relying upon that ratio of increase holding good here- 
after. Facts and figures are stubborn things, and while we all must 
admit their accuracy as regards the past, why should any doubt their 
correctness in guiding us to reliable conclusions for the future. By this 
rule, Madison should have a population of 16,000 at the commencement 
of 1858, and 32,000 in the middle of 1860. Let us, however, be more 
modest in our anticipations — so modest that none will be disposed to call 
our figures in question : 

February 1855, Madison had 6,800 inhabitants. 

July, do do 8,658 do 

In 1856, do... estimated 9,500 do 

In 1857, do... will have 12,000 do 

In 1858, do do 14,500 do 

In 1859, do do 17,000 do 

In 1860, do do 20,000 do 

Not to extend these dates and figures to a more distant period, the 
question may very naturally be asked by the cautious inquirer, what is 
there to justify the belief that Dane county, with its surroundings, is able 
to sustain a city of twenty, or perhaps fifty thousand people 1 Let us 
again recur to the experience of other cities and countries. The present 
population of Madison probably falls a little short of one quarter of the 
whole number of inhabitants in Dane county ; while Providence pos- 
sesses a little more than one fourth of the whole population of Rhode 
Island. Providence and Madison are alike State Capitals, and the seats 
of Universities; the former only having the advantage in its being a sea- 
port, which is more than counterbalanced, we should think, in the fact 
that Madison has a State forty times as large as Rhode Island, whose 
legislative and judicial business centers here, and having also an infinitely 
superior soil surrounding it in every direction. Dane county, as we have 
seen, already supports a metropolis having the same ratio of population 
to the county that Providence has to Rhode Island ; and hence we may 
wisely infer, that if Dane county is capable of sustaining an increased 
population, so is Madison — at the ratio ol one to Madison, for every 
four to the county. Contrasted with Rhode Island, Dane county ought 
to do far better than this ; for our county has no competing towns what- 
ever, while the single cities and towns of Smithfield, Newport, Bristol, 
and South Kingston, in Rhode Island, contain thirty thousand people, 
about three-fourths as many as Providence. 

II, then, Rhode Island can and does support her flourishing Capital, 
having a population of one-fourth of the whole State, Dane county, with 
superior advantages in her favor, can at least do as well. By the census 
of 1850, there were 73,000 acres of land returned as improved in Dane 
county, which we may presume has increased by this time to about 
140,000 — only about one-sixth of the whole. Let, then, the whole be set- 
tled, and only as sparsely per acre as that part now improved, and we 
should have six times the present population of 45,000, which would be 
270,000. And if the present county population of 45,000 supports Madi- 
son with 11,000 inhabitants, then a population of 270,000 would give to 
Madison a ratio of 65,000 people. 

These figures may startle some — for there are always a goodly number 
in every community, who, while they are amazed at the progress of the 
past, can never make the past a criterion by which to judge the future. 
We will now allude to other regions of country. If Dane county had 
the same population to the square mile that England and Wales have, it 
would have 344,000 people; if the same as France, we should still have 
230,000 inhabitants. Were Dane county as thickly settled as the three 
French departments of Rhone, Nord and Lower Rhine, it would sustain 



MADISOIS^ : ITS CAPABILITIES AXD DESTIJN'Y. 17 

a population of 700,000 inhabitants. We do not contend that our county 
will ever reach such a thronged population, we only wish to show that it 
really is capable of sustaining one so large. 

Let us recur to some of the more prominent of the interior counties of 
New York — such as Erie, Oneida, Monroe and Onondaga. Erie county 
has a population of 100,000, of which 41,000 are found in Buffalo; 
Oneida county 98,000, of whom 22,000 are m Utica; Monroe county 
87,000, of whom 35,000 are in Rochester ; Onondaga county 85,000, of 
whom 22,000 are in Syracuse. All these counties and cities are still con- 
stantly swelling their population ; Oneida alone is nearly as large as 
Dane ; Erie and Onondaga only three-fourths as large, and Monroe less 
than one-half. There can be no good reason why Dane county, the em- 
pire county of Wisconsin, should not equal either of those prosperous 
counties of New York, nor wh)' Madison should not possess a popula- 
tion as large as Utica, Syracuse, Rochester or Buffalo. Madison has 
beauties and advantages that neither of those ever had or can have ; 
which indeed no other place in the whole Union can equal. 

Madison is a central point — half way between Lake Michigan and the 
Mississippi river, and must always be central as to the population and 
business of the State ] having the great lead district on the west, — the 
lumber, copper, and iron regions on the north, — and agricultural districts, 
teeming w^ith countless productions, on every hand. It begins to reap 
the advantages of railroads^ and these advantages will speedily be largely 
augmented. It has no less than twenty-five different wagon roads, with 
seventeen different mail and stage routes diverging in every direction. 
Over seven hundred loaded teams have arrived here in a single day, 
bringing from ten to fifteen thousand bushels of wheat to market, with 
vast quantities of other produce. Nearly 700,000 bushels of wheat alone 
were marketed in Madison in a single year. 

Many important towns in New York and New England, and even not a 
few in the VVest, have rival towns and villages every five or ten miles 
around. Madison has no competing town within forty miles, and in the 
nature of things never can have. It must, therefore, have the concen- 
trated wealth, business, and prosperity of at least fifteen or twenty towns, 
wliich Dane county alone is well capable of sustaining. Besides enjoying 
whatever 'prestige and advantage that can be derived from its bemg the 
capital of the State, it has the largest agricultural county in Wisconsin for 
its support, — having thirty-five townships, all happily adapted for the 
highest culture, and yielding the richest rewards to the husbandman. 

As the capital, Madison is the pride of the whole State — and surely no 
other State in the Union has a capital whose location is so enchantingly 
beautiful. The seat of the State University, and possessing the finest 
medical establishment in the West — the Lake Side Retreat — with its 
charming scenery of fairy lakes, rolling prairies, and noble woodlands, 
all conspire to render it the most attractive place for summer resort in 
the whole North-West. Here conventions, almost numberless, and of 
every kind — political, literary, and scientific — constantly assemble ; and 
here, where the best libraries in the State are concentrated, men of science 
and literary taste naturally resort. It must always be the favorite water- 
ing place, and always remain the Athens of Wisconsin. 

Madison needs more cash capital ; nor could the capitalist desire a 
more inviting field. We need a paper mill on a large scale, cotton and 
woolen factories, large founderies, extensive manufactories of cars, agri- 
cultural implements, sash, pails, &c. We have less than $300,000 of 
banking capital invested here, while one and a half millions of dollars 
could be profitably used, at rates ranging from 12 per cent per annum — 
the legal rate of interest — to much larger rates, in discounting paper for 
3 



18 MADISON AND DANE COUNTY IN 1856 : 

merchants and manufacturing establishments, and buying produce, mort- 
gages, and St. Louis acceptances of the lumbermen of the north, many of 
whom reside and carry on their business transactions here. 

Rapidly as Madison has progressed during the past three years, it has 
yet a more brilliant career in future— and that future is not distant nor un- 
certain. As sure as figures cannot lie, so sure will the progress of our 
queenly capital be onward and accelerated. The developments of the 
Past are but precursors of the Future. Madison may have her share of 
croakers, who can never rise above their own narrow contracted views, 
but she will nevertheless continue on the high road to prosperity, and 
take her appropriate place in the front rank ol" the beautiful cities of our 
land. 

DANE COUNTY AND MADISON IN 1856— THEIR RESOURCES 
AND ADVANTAGES. 

The general intersection of extensive lines of Railroads, is universally 
acknowledged as the sure means of building up large cities at great 
Railroad centers ; and this speedy and large growth of cities is effected 
with even more rapid progress in population and wealth, than was the 
case before the era of Railroad conquest and enterprise. 

Madison, as pre-eminently the great Railroad center of Wisconsin, 
enjoys in an enviable degree, all these peculiarly favorable advantages. 
It has secured to herself a general connection and divergence of import- 
ant Railroad lines, and consequently, there will inevitably grow up at 
this point a large and flourishing city, having an immense^ trafic in Mon- 
ey, Agriculturai. Products, Merchandize and Manufactures, where 
speedy and handsome fortunes will deservedly reward many an indus- 
trious and enterprising man. 

Many of our Western chies rely wholly upon theu projected Railroads 
— too often but a mere moonshine basis — for their growth and prosperity. 
The Railroad lines and connections of Madison are real and bona-fide. 
The Milwaukee and Mississippi road, nearly two hundred miles in length, 
is now completed its entire length to Prairie du Chein ; the Chicago road, 
via Janesville, one hundred and thirty-live miles in length, is completed; 
and of the Chicago road, via Beloit and Belvidere, one hundred and forty 
miles long, only thirty miles yet remain uncompleted, which will be 
finished during the next twelve months. Of the Madison, Watertown 
and Milwaukee road, eighty miles in length, all but twenty miles are 
graded, and will be completed by the coming August.^ The road from 
Madison to Beaver Dam, thirty-five miles long, is under contract to be 
completed in the course of two years, which will connect us with Fond 
du Lac and all North-eastern Wisconsin. And lastly, the great Land 
Grant Railroad, of which Madison is the South-eastern terminus, extend- 
ing nearly four hundred miles to Lake Superior, through one of the finest 
lumber regions in the world — that part of the road from Madison to Port- 
age will be completed in 1858, and the rest, backed by the munificent 
grant of Congress, will be carried forward to the earliest possible com- 
pletion. In all these roads, we shall make numerous connections — pro- 
minent among which will be the Lake Shore roads from Milwaukee 
North and South, the La Crosse road from Portage, and the Galena road 
from Belvidere. 

These numerous Railroad junctions and facilities, fortunately center at 
a point possessing superior natural advantages, combined with surpass- 

*This road has, by act of the Legislature of 1857, been extended westward to Mineral Point, 
Plattville, and thence to the Mississippi at Dunleith, opposite Dubuque, and its construction will 
bo prosecuted with unusual energy. 



THEIR RESOURCES AND ADVANTAGES. 19 

ing BEAUTY and remarkable healthfulness of locality. Every sensible 
and reflecting person must readily perceive, that such a favored point is 
destined to exhibit continued growth and prosperity enjoyed by but very 
few^ places in any State. 

Let us make some moderate estimates of the population of Dane 
County for the next ten years, based upon the present population of 
40,000: 

In 1857, add one 5th increase, 48,000 

In 1858, do 6tli do 5t5,000 

In 1859, do 7th do 64,000 

In 1860, do 8th do 72.000 

In 1861, do 9th do 80,000 

In 1862, do 10th do 88,000 

In 1863, do 11th do Oti.OOO 

In 1864, do Pith do 104,()(>0 

In 1865, do 13th do 112,0o0 

lu 1866, do 14th do 120,000 

The great Empire County of Wisconsin is well able to sustain a far 
larger population than that here indicated. But one-sixth of the land in 
the county is yet settled, and all is susceptible of culture, and were the 
other five-sixths settled, at the same ratio per square mile, we should ex- 
hibit a population of 250,000 people. 

The State of Rhode Island, possessing the same area as Dane county, 
has a population of 150,000; and there are counties in England of the 
same area having 344,000 people; and in France, having 700,000 inhab- 
itants — all chiefly dependent for their sustenance upon the cultivation of 
the soil, which is naturally much inferior to that of Dane county. 

The population of the city of Madison, which is now over 10,000, may be 
safely estimated to keep steady pace with the growth of the county, at 
the rate of one for the city to every four for the county — which has hith- 
erto proved true ; and this is true also of most other large places, as com- 
pared with the growth of the country or region whose trade centers there. 
By this reliable guide the following exhibit is made : 

In 1857, add one 5th for increase, 12.000 

1858, do 6th do 14,000 

1859, do 7th do 16,000 

1860, do 8th do 18,000 

1861, do 9th do 20,000 

1862, do... loth do 22,000 

1863, do... nth do 24,000 

1864, do... r2th do 26,000 

1865, do... 13th do 28,000 

1866, do... 14th do 30,000 

Many of the great cities show a population of one-third of that of the 
surrounding country whose center they are. Madison may do as Avell. 
Ten years ago it had less than three hundred inhabitants; now with over 
10,000, with extensive manufacturing establishments rapidly on the in- 
crease, and several very important railroads very soon to be completed, 
connecting Madison with the lakes, the Mississippi, the Wisconsin, and 
Lake Superior, penetrating to the mineral and lumber regions, we may 
well conclude that Madison will certainly not indicate a less increase 
than we have given in the preceding table, or one-fourth of that of the 
county: and should it attain to one-third, as it may well do under the 
impetus of our increasing manufactures and widely extended railroad 
facilities, then in ten years we may expect to reach a population of forty 
thousand people. 

Madison has no rival or competing city in any direction for forty miles, 
North, South, East, or West, making it the centre of a region eighty miles 
in diameter, and two hundred and forty in circumference ; it has conse- 
quently a country equal to a New England State to support one city, with 
a soil so fertile that it has been truly sa"d that hfty years' labor in New 



20 



MADISON AIS-D DANE COUNTY IN 1856 



England, or twenty years' toil in Ohio, are not equal in their results 
TO FIVE industrious YEARS IN WISCONSIN, — attributable partly to the rich- 
ness, depth, and mellowness of our soil, and partly to the fact of our 
beautiful thinly-timbered and prairie country, almost ready at the outset 
for remunerating culture, while in New England, the Middle States, Ohio 
and Indiana, the patient labor of one or two generations is required to 
prepare it for the plow. 

A large share of our population will be employed in manufacturing. 
Iron and lumber, the two great staples in manufactures, we have very 
near us. Some of our citizens are engaged in large coal mines in Illi- 
nois, and from a careful estimate are satisfied that coal will be on sale 
at this point, freight included, at from five to six dollars per ton, as soon 
as we get proper railroad connections with the Illinois Central road to 
the coal regions of Illinois, and these connections will be made during 
the coming year. 

We have a great home market in our own county of thirty-five town- 
ships, lor articles manufactured here ; and the immense region now rap- 
idly filling up to the West and North,' will draw largely upon this city for 
its surplus productions. Our mechanics, in town, can purchase from 
the producer, beef, pork, flour, grains, etc., that are raised in all this 
country in great abundance. Besides our manufactures, we can export 
largely of wool, flour, grain, stock, beef, pork, and materials for printing 
and wrapping paper, and building stone the most beautiful for dressing 
by machinery any where in the West. 

By careful estimates, it is made to appear that we should save almost 
^5 per cent, by manufacturing here, instead of transporting manufactured 
articles from the East. All our cotton, and cotton-woolen goods are man- 
ufactured in New England ; the raw cotton is taken by sea from the 
Southern sea-ports, at heavy freights and insurance, as the coastwise pas- 
sage is more dangerous than that across the Atlantic ; and then, while 
being manufactured^ the artisans must subsist on high-priced provisions, 
raised in, and transported from the West • and finally the manufactured 
article must be freighted many hundreds of miles to us for its market and 
consumption. Not only polhical economy, biit our own good sense tells 
us, that it would be infinitely better and vastly cheaper, to convey by the 
Mississippi, or the great Mobile and Ohio railroad, the raw cotton from 
its native region, and bring it directly here, and here manufacture it, 
where provisions are raised and can be had at the lowest rates, and 
where the market for cotton goods of every description is already im- 
mense, and must increase beyond all computation. The only thing 
wanting to largely extend our manufacturing interest, is Capital — let 
this come, and Enterprise and Thrift, its handmaids, will come along 
also. 

Aside from the City of Madison^ there are 34 townships in Dane county^ 
whose present wealth may be stated as follows : The improved farms, un- 
cultivated lands, and personal property of the resident farmers, will aver- 
age to-day at least $500,000 to a township, making a total of $17,000,000. 
Add for Madison, real estate and personal property, at least $8,000,000. 
This would make the total wealth of Dane county $25,000,000. At a 
very moderate calculation, this amount will double in five years ; and 
much of it will necessarily be in cash capital, to be loaned in our own 
county to farmers and mechanics to develope our resources. 

At present, capital in this country is scarce, and simply because the 
demand is greater than the supply ; but it wfll, in a few years, be cheaper. 
Our people having a surplus, will always prefer using and loaning it at 
home, rather than sending it away. And our men of wealth and enter- 
prise, determined to make this the Empire County of the State, and Mad- 



THEIR RESOURCES AND ADVANTAGES, 2I 

isoN the great interior city, will always feel a just pride in doing all they 
can to aid in developing our own industrial wealth. 

This great Empire County of Dane is as large as four ordinary counties 
of eastern States. The soil is rich and fertile and ready for the plow. — 
The unequalled beauty of Madison and its surroundings — its fine educa- 
tional advantages — its healthful climate— all combine to attract thousands 
from Europe, the Eastern and Middle States, and many even Irom the 
South, to settle here ; and most of whom bring means with them, more or 
less; and to a new country like this, every laboring man, without money, 
is worth a thousand dollars to the country. Every such industrious comer 
will soon find a way to make a free home for himself, and grow better 
instead of worse in this world's goods, where his rising family can enjoy 
the advantages of a salubrious climate and superior educational facilities. 

Few persons would wish to settle farther North or West, when they come 
to find such combined advantages at this point, midway between the 
great lakes and Mississippi, with such great railroad conveniences, with 
two such extensive markets as Milwaukee and Chicago; thus rendering 
Madison one of the greatest business depots and railroad thoroughfares in 
the North-West. The property in and around Madison is not held by 
eastern speculators, who could feel no interest in the place, save that of 
having their lands increase in value, as the result of the public spirit and 
enterprise of others : but it is held by residents, who are always willing 
and ready to sell to mechanics and other settlers upon long time, giving 
them the advantage of the rise in value. The millionaires and solid men 
of the East acquired their wealth by anticipating the growth of the coun- 
try in which they lived. Unnumbered fortunes will be made here by 
sagacious and enterprising men. There is a certain and sure increase of 
wealth and population in a county and city like ours, which are not only 
favorably located for making money, but eminently lit for homes of the 
loveliest character. 

The people of Massachusetts who visit Madison are apt to compare its 
future business and population with those of Worcester and Springfield; 
and those from Connecticut, with New Haven and Hartford : and those 
of New York, with Syracuse and Rochester. Not one of those now pros- 
perous cities had anything like the same population and business at the 
the same age as Madison. From its peculiarly beautiful, healthy, and 
central position, environed by lovely crystal lakes and enchanting land- 
scapes, surrounded by a fine agricultural country, possessing superior 
educational advantage.s, the central and converging point of many im- 
portant railroads, already built and being constructed, and within five 
hours ride of Milwaukee, Chicago, and the Mississippi, Madison is des- 
tined in a short time to rival her enterprising sister cities of the East, 
with which, even in her infancy, she is so often and favorably compared. 

G. W. FEATHERSTONHAUGH ON MADISON IN 1837. 

Mr. Featherstonhaugh, the well known English geologist and traveler, 
passed over the interior of Wisconsin in 1837, and heard much of the 
magnificent cities around the Four Lakes. It was in June of that year, 
that, with plats and engravings of each and all, he traveled through this 
fine country in search of the very climax of civilization and refinement. 
In his work on Minnay-Sotor — his orthography for Minnesota — he thus 
relates his experience and observations : 

"The aspect of the lovely country at once accounted for so great a population flocking to the 
Lakes, on whose enchanted banks those cities were founded, of wliich we heard so much, and to 
"which we were now advancing. Four noble Lakes, in the centre of a region of unrivaled beauty, 
must constitute perfection itself. * * * * * * ** 

"There was Madison City, which was the metropolis. Adjacent to this was the City of tha 



22 MADISOIS" : IMPRESSIONS OF STRANGERS. 

Four Lakes. A short distance beyond was the City of North Madison. Close upon this again was 
;he City of East Madison. Then there was the City of West Madison, the City of South Madison, 
>nd fi lally, the City of the First Lake. Of these I had a beautifully engraved plan, with all their 
squares, streets and institutions. The path we were upon was an ancient Indian trail, holding its 
;ourse steadily from the waters of the Mississippi to Tt-cho-be-rah, or the Four Lakes." 

With such high expectations^ the traveler plodded on, looking for the 
seven cities — some ancient Rome, on seven hills — or for one city, or for 
Dr e hamlet, or for one hut, which at last turned up in the shape of a log 
shanty of one room — and this was Madison City! Such were the pnmi- 
ti\e times of 1837. But what would be the feelings of the learned 
Englishman could he now, after a lapse of twenty years, again visit 
Madison, we must leave to the reader's imagination. 

MADISON IN 1837, BY GEN. W. R. SMITH. 

Gen. Wm. R. Smith, the historian of Wisconsin, and the present Attorney 
General of the State, in his Observations on Wisconsin, made in 1837, and 
published the following year, thus speaks of Madison and its vicinity: 

"The Fourth Lake is a beautiful sheet of water, six [eight] miles from East to West, and fonr 
six] miles from North to South, in its widest parts ; its regular circumference being interrupted 
i)y the protrusion of wooded points of land into the lake. The water is from fifty to seventy feet 
J.eep, and always preserves its pure clearness, and sea-like appearance in color, although some- 
times disturbed into a considerable tumult of waves by high winds. The Third Lake is less than 
the Fourth, and the Second and First Lakes gradually diminish in size until the river of the Four 
Lakes continues its regular course to the junction with Rock river. * * * 

" Springs arise all around these lakes, particularly the Fourth Lake, supplying the great mass 
of waters ; but a principal source is a considerable stream of two or three branches, emptying in, 
on the northern shore of the Fourth Lake. No situation can be conceived more beautiful than. 
the shores of tliis lake; the land rises gently all around its margin, receding and rising gradually 
into a gentle emiuence, for about a mile from the lake, and the whole of this lovely shore is studded 
and adorned with spots of wood and thick groves, giving the idea of the park scenery in England, 
or the rich views of Italy ; and more beautiful than either, in its natural state. The lake abounds 
with the finest fish, perch, bass, catfish, bufi'alo fish, muskelonge, from a pound weight to thirty 
pounds and more. The shores are lined with fine shingle and white sand, and amongst the peb- 
bles are found chalcydone, agate, and cornelian, and other fine and beautiful stones suitable for 
s -als, breast pins, and other ornaments, not only often but in abundance. 

•■ With regard to the several additions to Madison, laid out around the eastern and northern 
>: lores of the Fourth Lake, the towns may not for some years meet the sanguine expectatio is of 
the several proprietors, but it may with truth be said, that in whatever proportion population 
may increase in all or any of these places, compared with other parts of the Territory, there can- 
not be found in any part of Western Wisconsin situations more healthy, and more fertile, or pros- 
pects more beautiful in respect to land and water scenery, than around and in the vicinity of the 
Four Lakes ; this region must in a short time be thickly inhabited. * * * 

"Indeed I can scarcely say enough in relation to this charming region. The present easy ac- 
cess to this section of country, by ascending the Mississippi to Galena, Mississippi City, Cassville, 
or Prairie du Chicn, and thence over the delightful prairies to the Four Lakes, will undoubtedly 
make it the frequent summer resort of the Southern planters. Surrounded as it is with the purest 
air, and a most healthful climate, not surpassed, if equalled, in any of the old States, visitors here 
can never fail to enjoy themselves either in admiring its picturesqueness, or by bathing or fishing 
in these crystal lakes, in which are to be found most delicious varieties of the "finny tribe." 

HORACE GREELEY'S IMPRESSIONS. 

The North-West. — In a recent letter of Mr. Greeley, in the Tribune. 
occurs the following just expression : 

"The North-West was never filled up and improving so rapidly as at this moment. I estimate 
that half the increase of population tliroughout the Union within the next ten years will innre 
lo the States and Territories north-west of Indiana. Were the public lands inalienable except to 
actual settlers in limited quantities, the increase would be still greater. 

"But the number of inhabitants in one of these new Western communities does not fully ex- 
hibit their relative strength and power. Tlie inhabitants of these new States and Territories are 
nearly all in the prime of life. You rarely meet here a woman past fifty years of age; still more 
jarely as old a man ; and a large portion of the pioneers are too young to have had many children. 
In a village hotel crowded with moneyed boarders — the merchants, bankers, and chief mDhanics 
of the place — two-thirds of them will often be found between twenty-three and thirty years of 
age — their wives, of course, still younger. Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota must to-day 
have an aggregate population of at least two and a half millions, who are equal in industrial ca- 
pacity to an aggregate of four millions in Europe or New England." 



MADIS0:N" : IMPRESSION'S OF STRANGERS. 23 

On Madison. — Horace Greeley wrote home to the Tribune, in March, 
1855; an account of his adventures in the West, in which he made the 
following mention of Madison : 

" Madison has the most magnificent site of any inland town I ever saw, on a graceful swell ef 
land, say two miles North and South by a mile and a half East and West, rising gently from the 
West bank of one of a chain of four lakes, and having another of them North North- West of it. 
These lakes must each be eight or ten miles in circumference, half surrounded by dry, clean oak 
forests, or rather " timbered openings," which need but little labor to convert them into the finest 
parks in which feir homes ever nestled, A spacious water-cure establishment has just been erected 
in one of these forests, across the lake South-Eastwardly from Madison, and shows finely both 
from the city and the railroad as you approach it. The Capitol is toward the South end of the 
built up city, in a fine natural park of twenty acres, and is not worse planned than most of our 
public buildings. The University crowns a beautiful eminence a mile West of the Capitol,[with a 
main street connecting them a la Pennsylvania avenue. There are more comfortable private 
mansions now in progress in Madison than in any other place I have visited, and the owners are 
mostly recent immigrants, of means and cultivation, from New England, from Cincinnati, and 
even from Europe. Madison is growing very fast. * **:;:** gjie has a 
glorious career before her." 

BAYARD TAYLOR ON MADISON. 

" For natural beauty of situation. Madison surpasses any Western town I have seen. It is built 
ou a narrow isthmus between the Third and Fourth Lakes. On the summit of this mound stands 
the State Houee, in the centre of a handsome square of fourteen acres, from Avhich broad, smooth 
streets divei'ge with a gradual descent, on all sides. To the West, and about a mile distant, stands 
the University, on the summit of a hill, or mound, of about equal height. The Madisonians count 
seven hills, but I could not make them all out, distinctly, nor do I thiuk it necessary to the beauty 
of the place that it should have a forced resemblance to Rome. In one respect, it is eqaal — in a 
soft, beautiful, cream-colored stone, which furnishes the noblest building material. Many of the 
business blocks and private houses display some architectural taste." — JV. Y. Weelcly Tribune, 
May 5, 1855. 

IMPRESSIONS OF PROF. NOBLE BUTLER, OF LOUISVILLE, KY. 

" The next evening we arrived at this place. I feel convinced that this place was once called 
Eden; but in the language of mortals it is now called Madison. I have been looking about to 
find Eve's bower, but there are so many places that seem to answer the description, that I am 
unable to decide between the rival claimants. 

" Madi«on is situated on rising ground, between two little lakes, as lovely as a fairy dream. In- 
deed I consider Fairy-Land a very prosaic sort of place in comparison with this. On one side is 
Lake Slendota, nine miles long and six wide; on the other is ftlonona, about three miles by five. 
The space between the lakes, on which the town is built, is from three-fourths of a mile to a mile 
in width. Around the town, stretching away in every direction, is a beautiful undulating coun- 
try, consisting of prairies and "oak-openings." These "oak-openings" are said to bear a great 
resemblance to the English park scenery. The town is situated on undulating ground. The 
University buildings are on the highest ground, and when completed will present a most imposing 
appeara.ee. The Capitol is admirably situated on a lovely square of fourteen acress covered with 
forest trees. From the top of the " Capitol House," — which, by the bye, is a capital house in 
more senses than one — the visitor has a splendid view. 

"The enterprise and energy of the Madisonians are absolutely astonishing. The hills and val- 
leys look at them with suspicion. If a hill sees a Madisonian take a " railroad look" at it, it begins 
to sink at once. In the language of the coon to Captain Scott, it says : " I might as well corac 
down." When a mere visitor has been in Madison for a few days, if he looks rather intensely at 
a valley, it begins to "swell vip." Madison contains about nine thousand souls, and I believe this 
includes the whole population ; for, judging from appearances, I should say that every individual 
has a soul. Well, among these nine thousand there was a gas company formed last January. On 
the evening of our arrival, tlie town was lighted with gas ! They have determined to have water- 
works; and if you should come this way in a few weeks, do not bo surprised if you should see 
Neptune r nd all his Tritons spouting here. 

"Madison is destined to be a resort for those who wish to retire from the turmoil of business. 
Around these beautiful lakes there Avill be seen many a lovely home reflected in the clear waters. 
Those to whom the bustle of Newport and Saratoga gives no recreation, will be delighted to come 
to such a place as this." — Knickerbocker Magazine, Sept., 1855. 

D. S. CURTISS' UVTPRESSIONS. 
Daniel S. Curtiss in his graphic work entitled Western Portraiture, has 
given us his impressions of Madison, in 1851, as follows: 

" Madtson, county seat of Dane, and Capitol of the State, perhaps combines and overlooks more 
charming and diversified scenery, to please the eye of fancy, and promote health and pleasure, 
than any other town in the West; and, in these respects, it surpasses any other State capital in 
the Union. Its bright lakes, fresh groves, and rippling rivulets, its sloping hills, shady vales, and 
flowery meadow-lawns, are commingled in greater profusion, and disposed in more picturesque 
order, than we have ever elsewhere beheld. 

" At sometime in our travels or observations, all of us have met with some location that was at 
once and indelibly impressed upon the fancy as the paragon of all out-door loveliness and beauty 
— the place with which all others were contrasted, and to which they must bear some respectable 



24 MADISON : IMPRESSION'S OF STRANGERS. 

degree of resemblance, to be esteemed delightful locations. With many persons, Madison is that 
paragon of landscape scenery. As the brilliant diamond, chased around with changing borders, 
which sparkles on the swelling vestment of some queenly woman, so this picturesque village, with 
its varied scenery, sits the coronal gem on the broad and rolling bosom of this rich and blooming 
State. 

" Nor is it less noteworthy for its business advantages and healthful position. Situated on ele- 
vated ground amid delightful groves and productive lands, it must be healthy ; while the abund- 
ance and convenience of fine streams and water-powers must facilitate a sound and rapid advance- 
ment here in agricultural pursuits and the mechanic arts. There are also several liberal charters 
for railroads, connecting Madison with Milwaukee, Chicago, and the Mississippi river, some of 
which ai-e already being pushed ahead with energy." 

DR. JOHN W. HUNT ON MADISON. 

Dr. John W. Hunt, the Assistant Secretary of State of Wisconsin, and 
the author of the Wisconsin Gazetteer, and the Wisco7isin Annual Register, 
thus candidly and truthfully speaks of our queenly Capitol City : 

" Madison, the Capital of the most promising, healthy and prosperous State of the American 
Confederacy, and the seat of justice of Dane, the largest and most productive County of Wisconsin, 
is situated on an Isthmus, about a mile in width, lying between Lakes Monona and Mendota, near 
the geographical centre of the County, and about midway between Lake Micliigan and the Mississ- 
ippi riv^r, being about eighty miles from each. It is widely noted for the beauty, health and 
pleasantness of its location ; commanding, as it does, a view of nearly every characteristic of 
country peculiar to the West— the prairie, oak opening, mound, lake and woodland. The surface 
of the ground is somewhat uneven, but in no place too abrupt for building purposes. From either 
Lake it rises to an altitude of about seventy feet, and is then depressed and elevated, making the 
site of the city a series of gently undulating swells. 

"The State House, a substantial edifice of lime stone, is built in the centre of a square Park, of 
fourteen acres, covered with a luxuriant growth of native oaks, and upon the highest point between 
the Lakes, ovei'looking each and the surrounding city. It has a large hall through the centre, and 
contains all of the State Offices — the State Library, the Legislative Chambers, committee rooms, 
&c. The corners of the Capitol Square are to the cardinal points of the compass, and from eacii 
of "them a street extends, terminating, excepting the Western, in one or the other of the Lakes. 
The streets are all straight, sixty-six feet wide, and M'ith the exception of those just described, 
are parallel to the sides of the Capitol Square, and, consequently, diagonal to the meridian. From 
the centre of each side of the Park, and at right angles with it and the principal streets, broad 
avenues, eight rods wide, extend completely across the City plat. At the termination of the street 
leadino- from the Western corner of the Park, and one mile directly West from the Capitol, on 
College Hill, near the shore of Lake Mendota, and in the middle of a Park of forty-three acres, com- 
manding an extensive view of the City, lakes, and surrounding country, the buildings of the 
University of Wisconsin are located. Near the southern corner of the Capitol Square, the Court 
House and Jail of Dane County are built. The former is a large structure, luilt of lime stone, 
and contains commodious rooms for Courts and County Offices. The latter is of beautiful cream 
colored sand stone, well and conveniently adapted for its purpose. About a mile from the northern 
corner of the Capitol Park, on the banks of Lake Mendota at its outlet, is the most extensive 
flouring mill, of eight run of stone, in the West. Near the eastern corner of the Park, the post- 
office, banks, hotels, stores and other business stands are principally located. Some of these 
buildings, for beauty of material and cost and elegance of structure, are unsurpassed. 

" The site of the town was located in 1833, by James Duane Doty, afterwards Governor of the 
Territory, and more recently Member of Congress ; and the village plat was laid out under hia 
direction in 1836. A large addition to this plat was made in 1850, near the University, known as 
the " University Addition." Another addition has been surveyed, on the North-East, by L. J. 
Farwell, by whom it is owned. Several causes operated to retard the prosperity of Madison until 
1847, since which time it has gradually and healthfully increased in growth, wealth and popular 
tion. Several railroads are constructed, and others in progress of construation to this place. 

"From its location in the centre of a large agricultural district, having no rival within a circle 
of forty miles, and being the permanent Capital of the State of Wisconsin, and the seat of her 
richly endowed University, Madison has special advantages that cannot fail to make it a command- 
ing business pointy, and a large and flourishing City. To the man of business, the merchant and 
manufacturer, great inducements are offered to settle in this thriving and rapidly increasing com- 
munity. To the retired merchant — the student — the lover of the picturesque, seeking a healthy 
and pleasant location for a home, are presented the refreshing breezes and pure air of the lakes — 
the beautiful scenery, unrivalled in any country— the quiet of a country residence, united with 
the social advantages and the excitements of a City, while the great abundance of game in the 
prairies and openings, and the variety of fish in the lakes and streams, afford a relaxation to aU 
in pursuit of health or pleasure. From its political position, it becomes the great centre of public 
business, calling together, at frequent intervals, people from all parts of the County and State, at 
the annual meetings of the Legislature, at the sessions of the Courts, the convocations of political 
Conventions, and the sessions of religious and benevolent Societies." 

HON. J. C. FAIRCHILD'S OPINION. 

Hon. J. C. Fairchild, in his Inaugural Message as first Mayor of the 
City, made the following condensed and suggestive remarks : 

"We cliallenge the world to produce a location for a City whose position embraces so many prac- 
tical advantages, combining beauty with utility, health with facilities of living, a climate free 
from changes that disturb the labor or impair the energies of our people, on shores of lakes of 



MADISON- : IMPRESSIONS OF STRANGERS. 



25 



surpassing loveliness, the capital of the State and residence of her oflScers, the seat of her Univer- 
sity, surrounded by the largest settled county in the State, with a soil principally owned by its 
occupants, and luxuriously fertile, we claim and can demonstrate, that Madison must of necessity 
become, from position alone, a rapidly growing City. When, with our natural position, we look 
to a distance, and see a field of our enterprize, our commerce and our occupancy, into which no 
laborers have as yet gone, as large as the remaining portion of the State, it needs no divination to 
foretell our future growth. We are on radial lines from the North and West with Milwaukee, our 
commercial metropolis, and Chicago, and the improvements already made foreshadow necessities 
for the future, and give evidence not only of their want but of their complete success." 

" THE FOUR LAKE COUNTRY." 

Some places have the beauty of a tunnel ; every thing runs into them, 
as water, weakh and people. And indeed, so often are dirt and dollars 
found together, that an impression exists, though it has not as yet crept 
into words, that commerce must grow in mud and water ; in fact that it 
is a sort of bulrush. 

Other places again are poems — sonnets, if you please — traced with a 
cunning hand, upon Nature's page, that everybody can read, and nobody 
can help loving. 

Among these latter, the " Four Lake Country" must be named — the 
region wherein like a young queen of beauty, sits Madison, the capi- 
tal of Wisconsin. 

For a long time, " as beautiful as Madison" has been a household 
word among tourists in the North West, but it is only a few wrecks since, 
following the lead of our good star, we looked for the first time upon this 
piece of embossed work ; embossed, as if Nature feared for the blind- 
ness of Humanity, and so had given in raised characters this rare passage 
of poetry. 

True, the season in which we saw it was unfavorable; the wind was 
keen, and blew from some open window or other, out of the North; 
great patches of snow alternated with great patches of withered grass; 
great panes of ice were set in over the lakes ; the groves were leafless 
and birdless ; our approach toward the region had been slow and tedious. 
We had waited at Belvidere : we had lingered at Janesville ; we had 
knocked our impatient heels against the frozen ground at Milton — 
Milton ! diminished shade of a lost Paradise ! — wehad been poisoned 
in the cars, and we reached Madison at the most undesirable hour '' be- 
tween meals" in a state of poor preservation. 

But notwithstanding all these discomforts, the capabilities of Madison 
could not be altogether disguised. Nobody could help seeing what a 
week of merry May, or a day or two of leafy June could do for its swell- 
ing, wood-crowned hills, its wide sweeps of crystal water, its beautiful 
gardens, its broad avenues. Do what one will with a floor of a prairie- 
enamel it with flowers, dot it wdth shrubbery, meander it with paths, ana 
despite all, it is a flat still ; you cannot conceal its poverty of resources ; 
brooks will not run in it ; smile it may but it never shows a dimple ; 
rocks, there are none, for rustic seats, nor mosses to cover them if there 
were ; there are no trees of God's planting ; there are no surprises of 
beauty, for all is revealed at a single glance. Not so Madison ; it is rich 
in capabilities ; almost all its loveliness is furnished ready to hand, and 
men have nothing to do but to live in it. 

We are told that a generous hospitality is a leading trait in Madisonian 
character. And while remembering • the people we have met,' it is proper 
to say, that our observation accords wuth that of others, when we note 
Madison as distinguished for the taste and intelligence of its citizens, many 
of whom have loosed the girdle they once tightened for the race and the 
struggle of life, and with books and friends are filling up gracefully, and 
who shall dare to say not usefully, an elegant leisure. 
4 



26 MADISON- : IMPRESSIOJ^S OF STRANGERS. 

The State University, with its able FacuUy, and accomplished head, 
Chancellor Lathrop, cannot fail to exert a powerful and salutary influence 
upon the community in whose midst it is locatec^ An esprit de corps re- 
garding their homes and institutions is a marked characteristic of Madi- 
sonians, whose indulgence can easily be pardoned : for no where in the 
beautiful North-West, have we seen a place for which Nature, in her 
holiday labors, has done more ; no place where, with leisure to enjoy, 
we would rather dwell. 

Located upon a grand billow of an isthmus, little less than a mile in 
width, between two sheets of water, Lake Mendota and Lake Monona; 
the one containing some fifteen square miles, and the other about fifty ; 
with its park-like surroundings, undulating away in the distance ; the 
clusters of groves and sweeps of lawn, and glimpses of water ; on the 
West, Lake Mendota, with its promontory sacred to the uses of friend- 
ship, "Pic-nic Point:" on the East, Monona; here Waubesa, there Ke- 
gonsa, the Yahara, and yonder Wingra and Peshugo ; as if at some time 
the toilet glass of the evening star had been shattered by the '' red planet 
Mars.'' or some such turbulent fellow in the planetary court, and so the 
fragments were strown over the landscape just there ; with all these fea- 
tures, and such as these, one may wander far through many a summers 
day ere he will find a place like Madison, at which he can exclaim as 
did the Indian, enamored with the Paradise he had noiselessly stolen 
upon, '-Alabama!"' — here we rest! 

And, speaking of the Indian, nothing is more noticeable, as exemplify- 
ing the good taste of those who give character to Wisconsin's Capital 
than the nomenclature of lake and stream and grove in all the region 
round about; no new Geneva spreads its crystal disc in Lake Mendota; 
no new Constance glimmers throug-h the trees from Lake Monona; but 
Mendota, Monona, Waubesa, Kegonsa, Yahara, Peshugo, and Wingra; 
Penora, Penitto, and Tarpora, pay their small tributes to Waubesa, while 
Wyseora murmurs its way into Monona; and Pe-e-na, Neosho, and 
Yahara find their way into the waters of Mendota. Then, here is Cot- 
tage Grove, there Pleasant Springs, and there Blooming Grove. 

But not alone for the beauty of its site, for the charms of its surround- 
ings, for the elegance of its homes, or the intelligence of their occupants, 
does Madison prefer its claims. As the Capital of a young, rich, and 
vigorous State, it must exert a commanding influence ; while even as 
the county seat of Dane county, with no rival town wherewith to divide 
its honors and emoluments, within an area of forty miles, it must be a 
place of no small commercial importance, while a ganglion of nerves — 
railroads — projected, commenced, or actually completed, is knotted at 
Madison ; to Fond du Lac, to Watertown, to Portage and Lake Superior, 
to the Mississippi, to Milwaukee, to Chicago. 

As a point for the investment of capital, Madison is entitled to special 
mention, while as a summer retreat for residents of the West, where 
groves woo even from the sultry noons a breath of coolness, and lakes of 
glassy beauty strowr on every hand ; its leafy shrines and swelling hills 
will not be without their pilgrims, nor its shadow-dimpled lawns without 
their pleasant visitors. 

While there is to be found in Madison a fair proportion of that Western 
leaven, which quickens to effort and enterprise, yet Sirius rages not on 
thai meridian, — everybody does not seem to be fortune-mad — goaded on 
by a sleepless demon that will not let them rest. It wants, too, (a want, 
by the way, it is all the richer, as we think, for possessing,) that air so 
characteristic of some Western towns, of a ''fair day" scramble, where 
the trampled grass of to-morrow will only reveal that a market has been ; 
an air of striking tents any day, that would leave no room for wonder if 



MADISON : ITS HEALTHFULNESS. 27 

one should find the town of to-day the vacant site of a town for to-mor- 
row. — Chicago Journal. 

HEALTHFULNESS OF MADISON. 

One of the first physicians in the State, Joseph Hobbins, M. D., of this 
City, in answer to numerous inquiries which are continually being made 
b}- many in the Eastern States who are looking hitherward for permanent 
locations, has kindly furnished the following facts. They are the results 
of his personal experience, and as such can be vouched for by others of 
the profession : while most of the positions assumed by the Doctor will 
be regarded as beyond dispute by the observing and intelligent of all 
classes : 

Of the perfect salubrity of Madison there can be no question. It has 
no endemic disease, no bilious fever, no typhoid fever, no ague ; and 
the epidemics which have occasionally visited it. have been of such a 
perfectly mild type as scarcely to be recognized for the epidemics of 
other and less healthy places. Measles is scarcely known, and ahogether 
free from those fearful complications and consequences so common in 
the East. Scarlet fever is rarely heard of, and not at all recognizable as 
the scarlet fever of the Eastern cities. There it is terribly fatal : here it 
requires little or no medical treatment. The worst form of cholera that 
has visited us — a solitary visitation — was English cholera, fatal only in a 
very few instances, and those occurring in persons of previous bad 
health or bad habits. 

People generally, residents of Madison, are healthy looking. This 
applies particularly to children and young people, — thus affording the 
best indication of all others of the salubrity of our location. The mortality 
among little children, so fearfully great in the cities on the Atlantic bor- 
ders and of older countries, we are ahogether free from, and deaths of 
any kind are rare amongst us. 

For that large class of persons in Boston and elsewhere, who suffer 
from that peculiar and inveterate form of dyspepsia, best known as 
nervous dyspepsia, as w^ell as for those thousand-and-one cases of 
chronic bronchitis and '-'Ministerial Throat Ail," so rife in the places re- 
ferred to, Madison offers a salutary and safe resort. Such affections are 
here unknown, save as cases of importation. Our perfectly dry atmos- 
phere, equable climate, and high and inland situation, together with our 
more simple and regular habits of living, our out door exercise in hunt- 
ing, fishing, boating^&c, furnish us at once with the best restorative and 
preventive. 

Rheumatic and gouty persons seem to find here almost a perfect free- 
dom from those diseases. Europeans especially, who at home were 
martyrs to one or the other of these diseases, become almost altogether 
exempt from them. The most noticeable feature, however, of our cli- 
mate, is its almost miraculous influence over the progress of phthisis. — 
Cases far advanced in this disease, progressing with a fatal rapidity on 
the sea-coast and in the cities of the East"^ are, on coming here, checked 
in their course almost immediately, and life which seemed not worth 
more than a few weeks" miserable lease, lengthened out to eighteen 
months or two years, the acute cases becoming chronic. 

Very numerous indeed are the instances met whh here of consumptive 
persons coming from Europe and from the East, m the firsc stage of 
phthisis, who have regained their health under the happy influence of 
our climate and our more natural mode of living, and this, too, with but 
little medical aid. A remarkable, distinctive, and self-evident fact con- 
firmatory of the correctness of the opinion I have expressed, as to the 



28 MADISON- : ITS PERMANENT RESOUR0ES, &c. 

perfect salubrity of Madison, is to be found in the healthy appearance 
of the foreigners who throng our streets. They not only retain their 
native clear and healthy complexion; but maintain their flesh, increasing 
and prospering. Whether German, English, Irish, Scotch, Dutch, or 
Norwegian, there is no falling off from their good physical condition. 

PERMANENT RESOURCES, AND CAUSES OF THE CONTINUED 
RAPID GROWTH OF MADISON. 

Madison stands in the center of a section of the most fertile country in 
the West, eighty miles in diameter in every direction, without a compet- 
ing village of any considerable size or point where a competitor can 
grow up that can ever effect its business relations. * 

Its population is now about 11,000. That this must speedily double 
and treble, is apparent from the following considerations : 

1st. That fifty per cent, average has been added to its population every 
year for the past five years. 

2d. That the county of Dane, of which it is the geographical center, 
contains about 850,000 acres of land — equal to one of the New England 
States — of which only one-sixth is under cultivation. Its population is 
now only about 45,000, whereas it is capable of sustaining half a million. 

3d. It is the county seat of Dane county, with a commodious cut stone 
court house, fire proof county offices and other county buildings. 

4th. It is the Capital of Wisconsin. The Legislature just adjourned, 
have appropriated $100,000 to enlarge the Capitol building the present 
year, which will, in effect, fix it permanently for the future. An appro- 
priation has also been made recently by Congress, of $50,000 for the 
erection of a Post Office and United States District Court House at this 
point, and an additional amount sufficient to purchase a suitable site. 
The Legislature has authorized the erection of a State Insane Asylum, to 
cost $100,000, of which $35,000 are to be expended this year ; and this 
noble and humane institution will undoubtedly be located on the beauti- 
ful site near Madison, owned by the State, purchased for this special 
purpose, two years since. The main University edifice will be this year 
erected, for which $40,000 are provided; and a City Hall, at a cost of 
some $26,000. These several public structures would do credit to any 
city or State. 

5th. The beauty of the City site is universally admitted to excel any 
other State Capital, if indeed it does not excel that of every other city or 
village site in the entire Union. Such is the testimony of every traveler. 

6th. Its lakes, affording the best facilities for sailing, fishing and bath- 
ing, render it an attractive resort for the lovers of healthy and invigo- 
rating amusement, and must make it eventually the great Watering Place 
of the West ] and water may be easily raised from the lakes for water 
works and fountains. Gas is also accessible to all parts of the city. 

7th. The most beautiful building sites maybe obtained here : and the 
real estate is not held by speculators, but by residents who are willing to 
sell on easy terms to actual settlers. 

8th. The elevation ot its position and the rolling surface of the sur- 
rounding country preserve it free from the epidemic diseases of the low 
prairie lands ; and the salubrity of its climate, the purity of its atmos- 
phere, and the evenness of its temperature, naturally invite the attention 
of persons desirous of securing a healthy place of residence. Its pecul- 
iar contour of surface admits of a selection of residences which will 
secure to those who desire it, all the benefits and pleasures of either city 
or rural life. Those brought up amid the din and bustle of active com- 
mercial life — the hum of industry, the clack of machinery — and the 



MADISOJS": ITS PERMANENT RESOURCES, &c. 29 

sights and sounds accompanying, and to whom such signs of activity are 
a kind of mental and physical necessity, can readily find residences to 
accommodate this condition of things; while those preferring quiet 
homes and rural retreats, surrounded by gardens, with trees and flowers, 
and the stillness of the country — with incomparable views of lake, wood- 
land and prairie, can as readily suit every fancy, and all within easy 
distances from the denser parts of the City. In a new and rapidly grow- 
ing country, location with reference to both present and future, is a mat- 
ter of great importance in these days of railroads and other numerous 
public improvements. 

9th. Its religious and educational advantages. Churches of nearly 
every denomination, are either already erected or in progress of erection, 
costing from $5,000 to $30,000 each. Its public and private schools are 
on a most extensive scale, sufficient for 2,500 scholars ; $24,000 have 
been set apart by the Common Council for the erection this year of four 
commodious buildings for public schools. It has also a Female Semi- 
nary, Academy, Mercantile College, and State University — which is 
amply endowed — has an annual income of some $25,000, derived from 
the interest upon its invested funds. It has two large edifices completed, 
capable of accommodating two hundred students, with authority of law 
and the funds to erect the main edifice this season. The Chancellor and 
Faculty, in whose hands this Institution is placed, have no superiors in 
any State. The students graduating from the Wisconsin State University 
will compare favorably with those of any other institution of learning. 
It affords a most desirable home to parents desirous of procuring reli- 
gious and complete educational privileges for their children. 

10th. An abundant supply of building material is found here. The 
most beautiful stone, easily quarried and cut, abounds in its immediate 
vicinity. Brick may be made to an unlimited extent, and timber of all 
kinds can be commanded whenever needed for use. 

11th. All the comforts of life are easily obtained here. Nature sup- 
plies in abundance the purest and best water and ice. The surrounding 
country affords every kind of substantial food ; and railroads convey 
hither, for the use of the citizens, the various luxuries of the world. 

12th. The climate is in some respects unlike that of most Eastern and 
Western States. Winter snows are very rare, as are also winter rains. 
It is not subject to the sudden changes of the immediate lake region, or 
the extreme rigors of many other sections. It enjoys a climate clear, 
healthful and bracing, with probably more pleasant weather each year, 
than is allotted to most other portions of the West — a result attributable 
to altitude and position with reference to the great lakes and rivers. 

13th. It has an improved water power capable of profitable extension 
by increased manufactories, and a vast home market exists, while the 
great West beyond for a thousand miles, now rapidly settling, invites, 
and will permanently and profitably ref)ay, every form of mechanical 
and manufacturing enterprise. The railroad connections with the Mis- 
sissippi and great West and North- West, are now completed. 

14th. Railroads completed or commenced connect it with every sec- 
tion of the Union. Four great lines diverge here. The Milwaukee and 
Mississippi, the Milwaukee, Watertown and Madison, East and West, 
connecting the Lakes with the Mississippi River ; and the La Crosse and 
Land-Grant roads running from Madison to Lake St. Croix and Lake Su- 
perior Northwardly and Westwardly. Arrangements are now being 
made for the extension of the great Illinois Central Railroad from Free- 
port, Illinois, to this City, thus giving us a direct communication by rail- 
road with Mobile and the Gulf of Mexico. 

The system connects with the Chicago, Fond du Lac and Superior 



30 MADISON : ITS PERMANENT REOURCES, etc. 

Road on the East and North, and the Beloit and Madison Road on the 
South. There is no point in the State so readily accessible in every di- 
rection as Madison, while the increase of warehouses, depots, machine 
shops and other fixtures, is, and is to be, very extensive. It lies on the 
shortest route from New York, Boston, Chicago or Milwaukee to the Mis- 
sissippi River, and being now the most populous interior city in the North 
West, there is scarce a limit to its capacity for future growth and business 
expansion. 

On the completion of the Watertown and Madison Railroad, the tim- 
bered regions of the State will be easily accessible. Every variety of 
hard wood timber will be obtained from the Crawfish — only twenty-six 
miles distant ; pine lumber from Lake Winnebago and the Wolf River 
country ; iron from the Dodge county mines, and all delivered at prices 
from 25 to 50 per cent, cheaper than the same products can now be ob- 
tained. With this great reduction in prices of these important staples, 
and the general cheapness of food of all kinds,*]an immensely increased 
manufacturing interest must necessarily spring up, furnishing not only 
a profitable home market, but advancing every other interest in both 
City and County. 

15th. It supports three daily and seven weekly papers, and two monthly- 
magazines, devoted to politics, news, agriculture, science and literature. 
Telegraph lines put it in hourly connection with all parts of the Union 
and Canada. 

16th. It affords the best advantages to persons wishing correct infor- 
mation respecting investments in school or government Ijinds in Wiscon- 
sin, Minnesota, or Northern Iowa: or in Railroads, Bank Stocks, Mort- 
gages, &c., in City, County or State. And it is a place where capitalists 
may loan their money on good security, and at a high rate of interest, to 
merchants, manufacturers and agriculturalists, who are safely and pros- 
perously engaged in developing and increasing the resources of the 
West. 

17th. Madison insures one thing to those coming to reside in it — cer- 
tain relief from the conviction many persons have been compelled to 
feel, that by selecting a location not favored by nature, central position, 
laws of trade or health, they have doomed themselves and perhaps fam- 
ilies to a lower position in society than was their appropriate place, and 
this applies to the farmer and meceanic no less than to the professional 
man and the merchant. 

These things being so, Madison largely already, has and must continue 
to attach to itself as a residence — , 

1st. Men of refinement and education. 

2d. Men of wealth for the investment of capital ; the laws allowing 
twelve per cent, as legal interest. 

3d. Men with families who seek to secure for their children the advan- 
tages of Education of every grade from lowest to highest. 

4th. Professional men and politicians. 

5th. Agriculturalists whose desire farms in the country, and a City or 
suburban residence for their families. 

6th. The agriculturalist whose skill and industry will find a rich reward 
in the demands of a City which attracts so many into other pursuits. 

7th. Men of moderate fortune but cultivated tastes, who desire advan- 
tages for themselves and families in a City where competition, facilitated 
by railroads in every direction through the most fertile soil, will enable 
them to live upon a limited incom.e. 

8th. Merchants, manufacturers, mechanics and artisans of all kinds. 

9th. Farmers desiring lands in the county with a certain and piofitable 
market, and laborers of all Lirds who are wanted upon the numerous 



MADISON: ITS BUILDING AND BUSINESS PROSPECTS. 31 

public and private edifices, now commencing, and the railroad lines 
which are building in nearly every direction. One thousand more work- 
men are even now wanted to complete the business of the present year. 

It is estimated that about $1,000,000 will be expended in Madison and 
vicinity in the course of the coming year upon public buildings, depots 
and railroads. Few people adequately estimate the importance which 
these expenditures will give to the prosperity of the place or their influ- 
ence in connection with extensive private enterprises in ensuring Madison 
as the great interior city of Wisconsin, unrivalled among State Capitals 
for beauty, salubrity and general prosperity. 

The agencies already specified and others still which might be men- 
tioned, must give the City of Madison a growth probably excelling, and 
most certainly fully equaling 20.000 population in 1860, and between 30 
and 40,000 in 1865. 

BUILDING AND BUSINESS IN MADISON FOR 1857. 

In looking over the number of public buildings already settled upon to 
be commenced the coming summer, and most of them to be completed 
also, before the building season closes, one is surprised at the amount of 
capital about to be expended, and very naturally falls into a reverie upon 
the result. There has been no year, even since Madison began to grow 
with its much talked of impetus, that has presented at its opening as fair 
a business programme ] neither has there been a season whose prospec- 
tive was as much for the public as the present. The Churches, School 
Houses, City Hall, and Post Office, are to supply actual necessities, and 
will be not only of ornament, but of use. Other public buildings whose 
necessity is not so much felt, will be proud ornaments, and what is more, 
the foundation of substantial prosperity to the City in the future. The 
Capitol extension and the location of the U. S. Court, (the same building 
with our new Post Office.) will silence the harpings of not a few envious 
capitalists, situated elsewhere, about moving the seat of government, and 
the fears also of small capitalists who have resided here in doubt wheth- 
er to invest in real estate while the harpies were crying up a removal. 
The buildings themselves will be substantial benefits, becoming the 
proudest parts of the City, but the labor necessary for their construction 
will be of no slight benefit also, in a business point of view. Hundreds 
of laborers must be employed this season on public works, more than 
last, and they will give no little stimulus to trade, in articles of home 
consumption. The most prominent buildings and building improve- 
ments, to be immediately commenced, are given in the following table, 
with their least possible cost : 

University, (Main Edifice,) $40,000 

Capitol Extension, 100,000 

U. S. Court Room and Post Office, 50,000 

City Hall, ^ 25,000 

Four School Houses, 24,000 

Congregational Cliurch, 20,000 

Episcopal Cliurch, 16,000 

Catholic Church, 10,000 

Insane Asylum, 100,000 

Railroad Depots, at least, 15,000 

$400,000 

We have reckoned but $10,000 to be expended on the beautiful Catho- 
lic Church, the foundations and first story of which are now built; but if 
that structure is completed this season, as the society intend, its worth to 
the town will be equal to its whole value — not less than S30,000. 

At least a thousand laborers more than were employed here last season 
will not surfeit the demand, and the sooner they find their way here 



32 MADIS0:N" : ITS BUILDING AND BUSINESS PROSPECTS. 

from the East, the better for their financial conditions; for wages will not 
be low in this latitude for at least two years to come. Good mechanics, 
carpenters, joiners, brick and stone masons, are in good demand now, 
and hundreds at the least would do well to embrace the opportunity 
offered here for profitable and permanent employment. 

The Capitol extension is to be 90 by 150 feet on the ground, and of 
proportionate height. The beauty which it will add to the central por- 
tion of the City, and more particularly the Park, will be a rare benefit. 
The view given in our pictures of the University will also be rendered 
more correct, by the erection of the main edifice, to be about 60 by 150 
feet foundation ; and the Post office and City Hall, the latter already well 
under way, will make the corporation complete in its more necessary 
and prominent features. 

Private enterprises, to fill up and make the City more compact we 
cannot at present enumerate with any sort of accuracy. We hear of at 
least twenty private residences, to cost from S3,000 to $15,000, which are 
projected — many of which are to crown the beautiful eminences and 
sightly lake views about the City. It is quite evident that more stores, 
and business blocks are planned for this season than were finished last, 
and the account of private residences in contemplation is surprising. 
The elegant residences erected last season, many of them on Fourth 
Lake side, have made great aheration in the appearance of the City, 
and given a base upon which to calculate what it will be when the inter- 
stices are filled up with others of similar architectural appearance. 
More tastefully arranged or more pleasantly located dwellings no City in 
the Union affords, and the empty sites, about to be appropriated are 
equal to those occupied, in every respect. In fact, some of the most 
sightly locations between the two lakes remain to be adorned with these 
beautiful quarried mansions. One year from this time, the visitor who 
leaves Madison now, may return to it, and with difficulty recognize it — 
its prominent architectural features being surpassed by others more proud 
and prominent. 

Merchants and dealers in articles of home consumption, can feel as- 
sured that business will not lag. Nearly half a million of money cannot 
be expended on public works in this City without perceptibly affecting 
all branches of trade. Laborers must be paid; they must be supplied 
with the necessaries of life ; and while the money is incorporating itself 
into solid structures it will also be passing from hand to hand and dis- 
persing itself throughout the community — not one cent of it being buried 
in the walls that grow beneath its magic influence. Thus, the money's 
worth will be represented by useful monuments, while the needful arti- 
cle is changing form with all the graceful and more than the pleasing 
sleight of the kaleidescope, yet never diminishing in value. The sim- 
ple fact that labor is capital, is apparent through this sort of reasoning : 
A church is worth $30,000, if it costs that much money ; and it continues 
to be worth that much to the town in which it is situated ; but the actual 
benefit to the town of the labor which erected it is worth much more 
than that, especially when the capital is brought in from sources wholly 
extraneous. Money is labor's master as its use is recognized, and while 
the labor is itself the builder, the money which commands it is the pre- 
requisite. 

The essential has been named and furnished for the public works 
mentioned in the above table, and in this respect they will be somewhat 
different from individual enterprises — not admitting a doubt as to their 
beginning and completion. It is well known, however, that the appro- 
priations for these works rarely or never amount to the sums actually 
expended before their completion, and hence many of our estimates are 



MADISON : ITS PRESENT WANTS, 35 

altogether too low. No better index to the future of Madison need be 
required than the facts thus noted. The accommodations of public 
buildings already projected will meet the wants of a City of twenty thou- 
sand inhabitants, and the capitalists, laborers and mechanics drawn 
hither by the advantages offered, will soon raise the census to that num- 
ber. Manufacturies of various kinds not here, are now needed ; and we 
trust that ere long they will be supplied by the enterprise of the East, 
which is still finding its way westward. — Argus §' Democrat, March 13, 1857. 

MANUFACTURING AND INDUSTRIAL INTERESTS NECESSARY 
TO THE PRESENT AND FUTURE OF MADISON. 

The following comprises a list of manufactories and other interests, not 
now existing at all at Madison, or carried on on a scale far too limited 
for the wants and necessities of both present and future : 

Stone dressing by machinery; 

Brick manufacturing, pressed or burnt; 

Iron founderies and machine shops ; 

Freight and passenger cars ; 

Agricultural tools of all kinds • 

Corn brooms, brushes, &c.; 

Hard and soft soap, candles, &c. ; 

Starch, farina, &c. ; 

Pork and beef packing, curing hams, &c. : 

Lard and linseed oil ; 

Vinegar, matches, &c. ; 

Tanning and currying of all kinds; 

Manufacturing of mittens, gloves, furs, &c. ; 

Coarse fur and woolen clothing for mines and pineries : 

Sail, row, and steamboats for the surrounding lakes ; 

Basket making of all kinds; fishing tackle, &c. ; 

Paper mill, for printing, glazed, and all kinds of paper; the demand 
for which is immense, for the publication of sixteen different papers and 
periodicals published here; for the prodigious amount of annual State 
printing; for the preparation of record books for nearly all the counties 
of the State; together with the large and increasing demand for printing 
and other paper required in all the region North and North-west of Mad- 
ison ; the home consumption of Madison alone requiring nearly 10.000 
reams of printing paper, at a cost of not less than $40,000; and about 
4,000 reams of writing paper, worth $10,000 more, — making the total 
value of printing and writing paper used in Madison alone $50,000 
annually; 

Type foundery, stereotyping, lithographing, wood and steel engraving ; 

Hat and cap, boot and shoe manufacturing; 

Woolen, cotton, and linen factories ; 

Oat meal, pearl barley, hominy, &c. ; 

Coopering, pail and tub factories ; 

Cabinet and chair making, picture frames, &c. ; 

Wagons, carts, wheel-barrows, &c., for farmers and railroads : 

Brass and copper work of all kinds; 

Metal and wood pumps, &c., of all kinds ; 

Depots for coal, wood, iron, salt, and hydraulic and common lime : 

The city and county also need, and will sustain, on an immensely in- 
creased scale, nurseries, vegetable and flower gardens, seed stores, &c. 

Indeed, in this new country, where every interest is rapidly growing, 
and little is as yet matured, every industrial pursuit is open to develop- 
ment, and invites enterprise and skill of all kinds. Railroads connect 
5 



34 DANE COUNTY PEAT BEDS. 

Madison with the Mississippi river and the vast unsettled regions to the 
West and North — Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota — and either now do, 
or in one or two years will, connect us with every portion of the State 
and the Union. Imagination can scarce conceive a limit to the market 
for every form of production which this vast and magnificent region is 
now opening. It is filling up with population at the rate of nearly or 
quite a quarter of a million annually, and yet a generation must elapse 
before it will be filled even at this rate. The grandeur and fertility of 
the West cannot be appreciated by Eastern people, while its growth out- 
strips even the sanguine hopes of Western men. Miracles of change in 
the condition of the country are almost weekly wrought. 

DANE COUNTY PEAT BEDS. 

These beds were discovered in 1856. Mr. Hough, County Surveyor o£ 
Dane county, has made a plat of the peat bog found upon the lands of 
Cols. W. B. and G, H. Slaughter and William Green, lying six miles west 
of Madison, and immediately upon the M. & M. Railroad. There are 
three irregularly shaped beds, contiguous to each other, which lie in 
depressions of the surface, and the whole outline gives unmistakeable 
evidence of having been, at a remote period, covered with water. Mr. 
Hough, having accurately measured the depth and extent of each beds, 
gives the following as the number of solid cords in each : 

No. 1, about forty acres, average depth 15 feet, 204,187 

No. 2, about fifty acres, average depth 3}^ feet, 59,555 

No. 3, about 25 acres, average depth 10 feet, 85,078 

348,820 

Thus it will be seen that in a county as sparsely wooded as Dane, 
these beds must be of great value, as they can be readily worked, and 
each cord will prove at least worth double if not threefold the price of 
wood. The owners are making arrangements to work them extensively 
this season ] and preliminary to this, they have submitted large samples 
of the peat to Dr. A, A. Hayes, of Boston, for analysis. Dr. Hayes' report 
is highly favorable. He says — 

" Taking the 59 parts of inflamable compounds as representing the positive combustible matter 
of this peat, we have a caloric equivalent, closely corresponding to that of oak wood, and I am 
led by my resiilts to expect an equal heating power from an equal weight of this peat, burned in 
comparison with wood." 

Again, he says — 

" Open fires will not only present a cheerful blaze, but the radiating power of the burning 
masses will equal that of bituminous coal similarly burned. In a country sparingly supplied 
with wood fuel, this fuel can not fail of proving a good substitute for wood in domestic use. In 
the large consumption for producing steam, under careful management, it can also be advanta- 
geously used. It will find an application in the production of gas — coal bearing a high price. 
There are only two or three cannel coals known which afford so much illuminating material, 
placing this peat in the first class of gas materials."* 

These peat beds are estimated to be worth not less than $1,000,000 to 
their fortunate owners, and fully three times that amount to the City of 
Madison, as an article of cheap, convenient, and cleanly fuel, and a first 
class gas generator for our Gas Works. 

LITERARY INSTITUTIONS. 

State University. — The State University, located at Madison, has a 
fund of .$311,000, drawing 7 per cent, interest — and this fund will soon 
be increased to at least $350,000 by the disposition of the remainder of 
the University lands granted by Congress. Its annual income will soon 



MADISON : ITS LITERARY INSTITUTIONS. 35 

amount, from this source, to $25,000, and probably some $5,000 from 
students fees and other sources. It has a Chancellor, six Professors, 
and a Tutor in the Literary, Scientific, Normal and Agricultural Depart- 
ments; while a Medical Department with eight Professors, a Law De- 
partment with two Professors, and a Department of Civil Engineering 
with one Professor, have been organized, and will go into operation at an 
early day. Last year the total number of students in attendance was 
169; board in commons will not exceed $1,85 per week, and washing 44 
cents per doz. The Board of Instruction is as able as can be found ia 
any University in the West: with befitting libraries, laboratories, appa- 
ratus, and literary societies. 

The present Board of Regents of the University consists of the follow- 
ing persons : 

Hon. J. H. Lathrop, President, Madison; Hon. Charles Dunn, Belmont; 
Hon. Nelson Dewey, Lancaster; Hon. Chauncey Abbott^ Madison; Hon. 
John K. Williams, Shullsburg; Hon. Levi B. Vilas, Madison ; Dr. A., L. 
Castleman, Delafield; Hon. N. W. Dean, Madison; Hon. S. L. Rose, 
Beaver Dam; Hon. D. W. Jones, Madison; Hon. A. C. Barry, Racine; 
Hon. H. A. Tenney, Madison; J. L. Pickard. Esq., Platteville; A. G. Mc- 
Mynn, Esq., Racine; and Prof. E .S. Carr, Madison. Gen. J. D. Ruggles, of 
Madison, is Secretary; and W. N. Seymour, of Madison, is Treasurer. 

The Faculty of Science, Literature and Arts, as now constituted and 
in actual service, consist of the following : 
John H. Lathrop, LL. D., Chancellor, — Professor of Ethics, Civil Polity, 

and Political Economy. 
Daniel Read, LL. D., — Professor of Mental Philosophy, Logic, Rhetoric 

and English Literature. 
John W. Sterling, A. M., — Professor of Mathematics, Natural Philoso- 
phy and Astronomy. 
Ezra S. Carr, M. D., — Professor of Chemistry and Natural History. 
0. M. CoNovER, A. M., — Professor of Ancient Languages and Literature. 
Dr. Aug. Kursteiner, — Professor of Modern Languages and Literature. 
Madison Evans, A. B., — Tutor. 
Normal Department: — Daniel Read, LL. D., — Professor of the Theory and 

Practice of Teaching. 
Agricultural Department: — Ezra S, Carr, M. D., — Professor of Agricultural 

Chemistry and the Applications of Science to the Arts. 

Commercial College. — R. S. Bacon's Commercial College is fully 
organized, and imparts a thorough knowledge of commercial instruction 
in from six to ten weeks, — though the time is unlimited. 

Seminaries. — ^There are two Female Seminaries and Musical Acade- 
mies, each having an able corps of instructors. There are also several 
select schools. 

Public Schools. — There are four public schools, under the general 
supervision of Mr. D. Y. Kilgore, and nine assistant instructors ; all pros- 
perous and creditable, affording instruction to 700 pupils, which num- 
ber will be largely increased with the enlarged facilities of the new and 
commodious school houses now in course of erection. 

The Board of Education is as follows : W. B. Jarvis, D. H. Wright, 
L. W. Hoyt, L. J. Farwell, D. Y. Kilgore, and D. S. Durrie. 

Chairman of the Board — W. B. Jarvis. 

Clerk— D. S. Durrie. 

Treasurer — L. W. Hoyt. 

School Superintendent — D. Y. Kilgore. 

Building Superintendent — D, H. Wright. 



36 



MADISON : ITS LITERARY INSTITUTIONS. 



Standing Committees for 1857. 

To Visit High School — Jarvis and Durrie. 

Do Branch School— D. H. Wright. 

Do First Ward School— L. W. Hoyt. 

Do Third Ward School— L. J. Farwell. 
Building Committee— \Y right and Kilgore. 
Auditing Committee— Jarvis, Durrie and Hoyt. 
On Text Books— Kilgore, Durrie and Farwell. 

State Historical Society.— With its large, increasing, and rare Library, 
its Picture Gallery, and Cabinet of curiosities, the State Historical Society 
is in the language of Gov. Bashford's recent message, ''already, m the 
extent and value of hs acquisitions, superior to any West of the Allegha- 
nies • it is a worthy object of State pride." The Picture Gallery of the 
pioneers and early public men of our State, of notable Indians, and other 
public characters, forms an attractive feature. Its Library is large, and 
contains many valuable newspaper files, from 1776 to the present time, 
and many ancient, rare, and curious volumes. Its Cabinet exhibits a 
large number of historical curiosities ; among its manuscripts and auto- 
graphs are letters of Washington, Adams, Henry, Jefferson, and ail the 
leading chiefs of the Revolution : and its annual volumes oi Collections 
compare favorably with those of similar societies m the older sections of 
the Union. There are not more than four or five kindred societies in the 
country that exceed this in the extent and value of their collections. 

The officers of the Society for the current year, and who compose the 
Executive Committee, are as follows : 

President— Gen. Wm. R. Smith, of Mineral Point. 

Vice Presidents— Uon. James Duane Doty, of Menasha ; I. 
Of Milwaukee; Gen. A. G. Ellis, of Stevens' Point; Hon. 
Martin, of Green Bay ; Cyrus Woodman, of Mineral Point ; 
Brown, of Delafield. 

Corresponding Secretary — Lyman C. Draper. 

Recording Secretary— Br. John W. Hunt. 

Li&rariavi— Daniel S. Durrie. 

Treasurer— Prof. 0. M. Conover. 



A. Lapham, 
Morgan L. 
and Beriah 



Hon. L.J. Farwell, 
Hon. Simeon Mills, 
B. F. Hopkins, 
F. G. Tibbits, 
S. H. Carpenter, 
Horace Rublee, 



Curators. 
Hon. Hiram C. Bull, 
Hon. D.J. Powers, 
E. A. Calkins, 
H. K. Lawrence, 
Julius T. Clark, 
Rev. H. F. Bond, 



Hon. J. P. Atwood, 
Col. David Atwood, 
Wm. B. Jarvis, 
S. V. Shipman, 
Edward Ilsley, 
C. T. Flowers. 



Standing Committees for 1857. 
On Publications— J)ra])er, J. P. Atwood and Hunt. 
On Auditing Accounts— l\s\ey, Conover and Durrie. 
On Finance— Farwell, Powers, Jarvis, libbits and Draper^ • 
On Library, Purchases and Fixtures— T)raiier, Durrie and Rublee. 
On Printing— Hunt, Calkins and Carpenter. 
On Picture Ga/Zer?/— Carpenter, Tibbits and Hopkins. 
On Literary Exchanges— Bond, Flowers and Draper. 
On Nomination of Members— MiWs, Draper aud Shipman. 
On Obituaries— nuh\ee, Calkins, D. Atwood, Carpenter and Draper. 
On JBuiWw^g- Lo^-BuU, Farwell, Tibbits Mills and Draper 
On Building Hall-i. P. Atwood, Hopkins, Hunt Clark and Shipman. 
Soliciting Committee— Draper. Usley, Rublee, Bull and J. P. Atwood. 



MADISON : ITS LITERARY INSTITUTIONS, 37 

Madison Institute. — This institution fills an important place, with its 
library, debating club, and annual course of lectures by the ablest lec- 
turers of the country. It has hitherto struggled for an existence, but by 
the generous and faithful efforts of Hon. D. J. Powers, and S. G. Bene- 
dict, Esq., the able President and efficient Treasurer for the past year, 
well seconded by their associates, the Institute is now out of debt, has 
a respectable and increasing library, and is in every way in a prosper- 
ous and flourishing condition. 

The following are the officers of the Institute for the present year : 

President — Frank A. Haskell. 

Vice Presidents — Frank H. Firmin, Charles T. Wakeley, and Horace 
Rublee. 

Corresponding Secretary — J. W. Mayhew. 

Recording Secretary — D. C. Poole. 

Treasurer — S. G. Benedict. 

Directors — D. J. Powers, N. B. Van Slyke, James L. Hill, Daniel McFar- 
land, Wm. Ripley, Jr., J C. Pickard, H. M. Lewis. Rolla A. Law, E. W. 
Skinner, M. T. Bailey, W. S. Main, and E. B. Adams. 

Standing Committees. 

Rooms and Fixtures. — N. B. Van Slyke, S. G. Benedict, E. W. Skinner. 
Ways and Means. — D. C. Poole, D. J. Powers, J. L. Hill. 
Lectures. — D. J. Powers, J. W. Mayhew, Frank H. Firman. 
By-Laws.— J). McFarland, H. M. Lewis, W. S. Main. 
Behating Department.— U. M. Lewis, M. T. Bailey, J. W. Mayhew. 
Printing.— Rolla A. Law, C. T. Wakeley, E. B. Adoms. 
Donations and Subscriptions. — S. G. Benedict, Wm. Ripley, Jr., E. B. 
Adams, W. S. Main, E. W. Skinner. 

Library.—Fi3.nk H. Firmin, H. Rublee, D. McFarland, C. T. Wakeley. 

Madison Libuaries. — Madison must, from the nature of things, always 
be the literary emporium of the State. This characteristic will have a 
favorable influence in attracting men of intelligence and literary taste to 
the place. 

The following Table exhibits the present number of volumes in the 
libraries of our City, including only two private collections, which have 
been collected to subserve public purposes ; and all are rapidly increas- 
ing : 

Vols. 

state Library, 6,000 

Executive Library, 600 

State Superintendent's, 500 

State Historical Society, 3,-500 

State University Library, 2,400 

Lyman C. Draper's collection on Western History, 1,500 

Madison Female Seminary 1,000 

Madison Institute, .' 700 

John W. Hunt's GeograpLical and Statistical collection, 300 

State Agricultural Society 300 

High School, 300 

Sabbath School Libraries, 1,000 

Total, 18;100 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Newspapers and Periodicals. — The Argus and Democrat^ and Patriot^ 
Democratic, and the State Journal^ Republican, are each published daily 
and weekly, and the Argus and Democrat also publishes a tri-weekly 
edition. The Norske Americaner, Democratic, a Norwegian weekly; the 
Staats Zeitung, Democratic, and Madison Zeitung, Republican, are German 
weeklies: the Westerii Fireside, a valuable literary and family paper, is 



38 



MADISON : MISCELLANEOUS INSTITUTIONS. 



issued weekly; the Wisconsin Farmer, a monthly magazine of thirty-six 
pages, is the most ably conducted of its kind in the North- West; and 
the Students^ Miscellany is a creditable monthly literary magazine, pub- 
lished by the students of the State University. These several publica- 
tions, together with the State printing, book publishing, and job work, 
consume nearly ten thousand reams of paper annually, and give em- 
ployment to 110 hands. 

The State Agricultural Society is located at Madison. It receives 
$3,000 annually from the State, and by its faithful labors and manifold 
good offices, is doing a noble work for Wisconsin. It has issued three 
admirable volumes of Transactions, and a fourth is now in course of pre- 
paration. This Society has introduced and disseminated many valuable 
seeds, and by its annual Fairs and prize lists, has excited a commenda- 
ble spirit among the agriculturists of the State, and has thus rendered 
untold benefits to the wealth, improvement and happiness of our people. 

The officers for the current year are — 

President — J. F. Willard, Janesville. 

Vice Presidents — Martin Webster, Fox Lake; A. D. Kirkpatrick, 
Dayton ; and 0. F. Bartlett, East Troy. 

Treasurer — D. J. Powers, Madison. 

Secretary — Geo. O. Tiffany, Madison. 

Additional Members of the Executive Committee. — Adam E. Ray, 
Little Prairie ; Geo. H. Williston, Janesville ; Geo. Messersmith, Mineral 
Point; Geo. H. Slaughter, Madison; D. Williams, Springfield; L. W. 
Joiner, Wyoming; S. S. Daggett, Milwaukee; N. P. Davis, Pierceville; 
also, Ex-Presidents E. W. Drury, Fond du Lac ; H. M. Billings, Highland ; 
E. W. Edgerton, Summit; and Harvey Durkee, Kenosha. 

Dane County Agricultural Society. — This Society held a successful 
and creditable annual fair last fall, and has made a good beginning in 
the field of usefulness. While under the control of such men as its 
present officers, it will never flag in its efforts and aims. Its officers are : 

President — Hon. P. W. Matts, Montrose. 

Vice Presidents — D. S. Curtiss, Madison ; G. H. Slaughter, Middleton ; 
and J. E. Carpenter, Windsor. 

Secretary — H. F. Bond, Madison. 

Treasurer — Hon. D. J. Powers, Madison. 

Lake Side Retreat. — This Institution is situated on the South margin 
of Lake Monona, in full view of the City, where quiet to the invalid is 
insured. The grounds, comprising about fifty acres, are beautifully un- 
dulating, covered with native oaks and shrubbery, and skirting the Lake 
for more than a half mile. The buildings are new, large and elegant, 
and comfortably furnished ; heated throughout by steam, so that the 
temperature in each room can be readily regulated. Dr. A. Schue, a 
learned and liberal physician, a pupil of the illustrious Liebig, and now 
a Professor in the Medical Department of our State University, has the 
medical superintendence of the Institution, and is eminently fitted for the 
position. There are but few persons who are not aware of the salutary 
and beneficial effect exerted by water, in many cases of chronic diseases, 
when the temperature and mode of applicaiion is judiciously adapted 
to the strength and condition of the patient, especially when aided by a 
well regulated diet, and by healthful and judicious exercise, pure air, 
mental repose, &c., &c. But while Dr. Schue fully appreciates the cura- 
tive power of this agent, and the fitness of its adaptation in many cases, 
he at the same time uses all other means for the removal of diseases. 
that Nature, Art and Science have put into our hands, whenever ana 
wherever they are indicated. 



MADISON : MISCELLANEOUS INSTITUTION'S. 39 

Madison Hydraulic Company. — This Company is chartered and fully 
organized — Hon. H. A. Tenney, President. To obtain permanent wells 
in the elevated portions of the City, it is necessary to dig about seventy 
feet ; this renders wells expensive to dig, costly to keep in repair, and 
troublesome to raise the water. To obviate all these, this company proposes 
to raise water from Lake Mendota, at a depth of at least twenty-five feet, 
forced by steam or other power into a reservoir upon the hill in the rear 
of the University buildings — which hill is about forty feet higher than 
the Capitol Park ; and thence to convey water into the third stories of 
every building about the Park, and much higher on the lower grounds, 
and thus furnishing our citizens a full and certain supply, at all times, of 
pure fresh water. It is proposed to have two or more fountains in the 
University Park, facing the City, four within the Capitol Park, having 
jets from thirty to thirty-five feet high. While this would prove an ines- 
timable convenience to our citizens, it would also prove vastly useful in 
case of fires, and the fountains would prove a crowning ornament to our 
City. Its cost would not exceed $40,000, while nearly half that amount 
is yearly expended for wells and cisterns. This noble improvement the 
Hydraulic Company are resolved to make at an early day. 

Madison Gas Light and Coke Company. — This company, under the 
Presidency of Hon. J. P. Atwood, has a capital of $100,000 ; has about 
five miles of pipe laid, and since July, 1855, has supplied the City with 
as good gas as can be found anywhere. 

The Madison Mutual Insurance Company has been organized since 
1851 ; the amount of property insured amounts to nearly a million of 
dollars. It has promptly paid its losses, which have been few, and ac- 
cumulated quite a fund for future uses or distribution. Hon. N. W. Dean 
is President; Col. David Atwood, Secretary: and Hon. L. J. Farwell, 
Treasurer. 

Banks and Banking. — There are five banks organized under our admi- 
rable general banking law, viz: Wisconsin Bank nf Madison, capital $100,000, 
M. D. Miller, Pres't, Amos Tuck, V. Pres't, and Noah Lee, Cash'r ; Dane 
Co. Bank, capital $50,000, N. B. Van Slyke, Pres't, and T. Brown, Cash'r; 
Bank of the Capitol, capital $50,000, E. B. Smith, Pres't, and J. M. Dickinson, 
Cashier; Merchants^ Bank^ capital $25,000, A. A. Bliss, Pres't, and H. R. 
Church, Cashier; State Bank, caphal $50,000, S.Marshall, Pres't, and J. A. 
Ellis, Cashier— Total capital, $275,000; total resources, $721,818 62, and 
total liabilitiesthe same, including $310,018 13 due depositors on demand. 
It should be added that the Wisconsin Bank of ifadison is about going into 
operation; and that one and a half millions of dollars in addition to the 
present capital, could be profitably used in banking in Madison. 

City Cemetery. — The City anthorities have purchased eighty acres of 
unimproved land, about two miles from the City, occupying an elevated 
position near Lake Mendota, studded with a beautiful forest growth, hav- 
ing the City and lakes in full view. When improved and beautified, as 
it soon will be, we shall have as lovely a Cemetery as any in the Union. 
It is the design of the State Historical Society to memorialize the Com- 
mon Council to set apart a sufficient and appropriate locality, in the 
Cemetery grounds, for the last resting place of the prominent and distin- 
guished pioneers of Wisconsin, — a design both unique and beautiful. 

The Wildwood Cemetery Association was chartered at the recent 
session of the Legislature ; and the locality suggested for it, is a beautiful 
bluff on the northern shore of Lake Monona, about a mile from the City. 

Dane County Bible Society. — This is a new organization, and, it is to 



40 MADISOX : ITS CHURCHES 

be hoped, maj^ prove eminently successful in the objects for which it wa& 
instituted. Its present officers are — 

President — Prof. 0. M. Conover. 

Secretary — David H. Wright. 

Treasurer and Depositor — David Holt. 

Executive Committee — The pastor and two members of each of the City 
churches. 

CHURCHES. 

There are organized churches, with stated worship, of the Baptist, Pres- 
byterian, Episcopalian, Methodist, Congregational, Catholic, German Lu- 
theran. German Catholic, German Evangelical, Norwegian Lutheran, and 
Unitarian denominations ] all, except the two latter, either having church 
edifices, or preparing for their erection. 

Baptist Church. — Rev. W. R. Brooks, Pastor. 

Trustees — Daniel Gorum, John W. Hunt, Samuel R. Fox, Willet S. 
Main, and Lyman C. Draper. 

Preside7it of the Board — John W. Hunt. 
Clerk of the Board— Willet S. Main. 
Treasurer — Samuel R. Fox. 

Presbyterian Church. — Rev. W. L. Green, Pastor. 
Trustees— LW. Sterling, J. T. Clark, James R. Mears, H. S. Orton, D. J. 
Powers, and one vacancy. 
Clerk— B. S. Durrie. 
Treasurer — J. W. Sterling. 

Episcopal Church. — Rev. J. B. Britton, Rector. 

Wardeiis — J. H. Lathrop, and Wm. A. Mears. 

Vestrymen — L. J. Farwel], H. K. Lawrence, A. N. Corss, I. N. De Forest, 
J. G. Knapp, S. M. Van Bergen, and A. L. Collins. 

Building Committee — L. J. Farwell, W. A. Mear^ H. K. Lawrence, P. 
H. Van Bergen, and I. N. DeForest. 

Secretary and Treasurer — G. F. Taylor. 

Methodist Church. — Rev. C. E. Wyrick. Pastor. 

Trustees — D. H. Wright, Henry Hyam, Calvin Paul, C. C. Church, Rev. 
M. Fox, and Stephen Varnel. 

Clerk of Trustees — Thomas Fetterly. 

Congregational Church. — Rev. N. H. Eggleston, Pastor. 

Trustees—'^. W. Dean, Wm. Ripley, Jr., W. N. Seymour, C. Fairchild, 
W. Skinner, Philo .Dunnino-. J. G. Bliss, W. M. Cleveland, and L. W. 
Hoyt. 

Clerk — E. B. Adams. 

Treasurer — Waldo Skinner. 

Unitarian Society. Pastor. 

Trustees — Edward Elsley, D. J. Powers, and James Richardson. 
Secretary — Edward Ilsley. 
Treasurer — 

Catholic Church — St. Raphael's — Rev. Francis Etchman, Pastor. 
Building Committee — Rev. F. Etchman, A. A. McDonald, Far rel O'Brien, 
John H. Slavan, and Thomas Heeran. 
Secretary — John H. Slavan. 
Treasurer — Rev. F. Etchman. 

German Evangelical Society — Rev. J. G. Miller, Pastor. 



MADISON : ITS CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS, &c, 41 

Jewish Congregation— ^/lawJef/i Achim.-^No pastor. 
President — S. Sekles. 
Secretary — M. Kohner. 
Treasurer — Samuel Klauber. 



CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS, &c. 

SONIC. — Mai 
S.W. 



Masonic— Madison Lodge, No. 5.— F. W. Bird, W.M.; S. V. Shipman, 
o. W. • Wm. A. Wheeler, J. W. ; Samuel Klauber, Treasurer; D. H. 
Wright Secretary; John Roddermund, S. D.; George Drohman, J. D. ; 
E. E Wyman, Tyler ; A. Herfurth and F. W. Anschutz, Stewards. 

Hiram Lodge, No. 50.— John Warren Hunt, W. M.; N. Chittenden, S. 
W • A P Dcerschlag, J. W. ; Joseph Keyes, Treasurer; Du Ray Hunt, 
Secretary; A. S.Wood, S. D.; Wm. F. Baker, J.D.; J. C. Bourke, Tyler. 
Concordia Lodge, (German.)— Dominic Hastreiter, W. M. ; William 
F Baker, S.W. ; M. Kohner, J. W. ; A. P. Dcerschlag, Treasurer ;S. 
Sekles, Secretary; M. Greenbaum, S.D.; E. DcBrschlag, J. D. ; C. Ably, 
Tyler. 

'Madison Chapter, No. 4.--John Warren Hunt, High Priest; Ezra H. 
Gleason King ; A. A. Bird, Scribe ; Joseph Keyes, Treasurer ; S. V. Ship- 
man Se'cretafy ; F. W. Bird, C. Hok ; d!^C. Bush, P. H. P., P. Sojourner ; 
Will' H Karns^, R. A. C. ; David HoU, M. 3d Vail ; M. L. Esterbrook, M. 
2d Vail; Ebenezer Clewett, M. 1st Vail; E. E. Wyman, Guard. 

Hope Lodge, No 17, L 0. 0. F-Andnis Vial, N..Gg Wm. Wood- 
hurst, V. G. ; Wm. P. Towers, R. Sec; E. W. Gardner, P. Sec; b. VI. 
Calkins, Treasurer. 

Madison Encampment, No. 8, I. 0. 0. F.-Samuel Klauber, a P ; 

James Halpin, H. P. ; Giles, S. W. ; A. P. I^oBrschlag, J. W. ; D H. 

Wright, Secretary; Matthias Martin, Treasurer; D. G. Reed, Sentinel. 

Excelsior Division of Sons of Temperance, No. 18.—C. H. Billings, 
W P- C. A. Reynolds, W. A.; C. D. Pearson, R. C ; Burdick, Treas- 
urer ;' J. C. Burwell, P. W. P. 

Capitol Lodge No. 11, I. O. of Good Templars.-C C. Church W. 
C. T.; Mrs. Crampton, W. V. T.; H. H. Sherman W. S^; Mrs. S^M. 
Youn-, W. T. ; T. Young, W. F. S. ; A. T. Bruce, VV. M. ; 0. Buck, W. I. 
G.; jrc. Burwell, W. 0. G. 

St. George's Society— For the purpose of relieving their brethren m 
distress.-Prof. Joseph Hobbins, M. D. President, Charles George 
Mayers, First Vice President; Edward Thompson Second Vic^ Presi- 
dent; Henry Wright, Treasurer; Rev. D. Keene, Chaplain; J. W May- 
hew,' Rec. Secretary; George E. Woodward, Cor. Secretary; William 
Hobbins, M. D., Physician; Board of 3Ianagers-Wm^ ^^ ^T\^t 
mund Gibbs, George H. Barvvise, Madison ; Hon. R. H. Davis, Baraboo 
E. Barber, Whitewater; John Barnett, Milwaukee; and Hon. M. J. 
Thomas, Fond du Lac. 

Madison Turnverein or Gymnastic Society.-M. Kohner Speaker ; 
Franz Gokle, 2d Speaker ; C. Steinmetz, Secretary ; Fred. Sauthott, I reas- 
urer ; Henry Repp, Master of Exercises. 

Madison Tvpoqraphical Union, for the purpose ot promoting " the art 
preservative of all arts," of instituting Literary and Scientific Lectures 
Ind relief of distressed members. President ^^^''^}^YP^^']'hl'^l 
President, John Griffith; Recording Secretary, John D. Lemon , Corres 
ponding Secretary, Wm. A. Emmons; Treasurer, Peter Stout. 
6 



42 MADISON : ITS BUSINESS STATISTICS. 



BUSINESS STATISTICS. 

Value of Merchandize, Lumber, Produce, Wood, ^c, marketed and sold 
Madison during 1856 : 

Dry Goods $442,000 

Groceries 507,000 

Hardware 350,000 

Agricultural implements, in addition to those sold by hardware merchants 80,000 

Clothing .' 200,000 

Drugs, medicines, oils and paints 75,000 

Boots and shoes 60,000 

Millenery and fancy goods 25,000 

Auction sales 50,000 

"batches, jewelry, Ac 50,000 

Books and stationery 30,000 

Blank books 20.000 

Printing, book publishing and binding 130,000 

Musical instruments 30,000 

Hats, caps and furs 25,000 

Crockery and glass ware 15,000 

Cabinet ware 75,000 

Salt, plaster, grind stones, water-lime and hair 50,000 

Marble work 20,000 

Gun work 10,000 

Cigars and tobacco 40,000 

Wagons and carriages 100,000 

Gas fixtures and fitting 10,000 

Lumber, lath and shingles 300,000 

Sash, doors and blinds 30,000 

Wood 150,000 

Coal 10,000 

Furnaces 3.000 

Wheat 700^000 

Corn, oats, barley and fiax seed 250,000 

Pork, beef^ and Iresh meats 265.000 

Flour 150,000 

Butter, lard and tallow 100,000 

Wool, hides and pelts 60,000 

Poultry, game and fresh fish 50,000 

Vegetables of all kinds, and fresh fruits 100,000 

Cranberries 15,000 

Livery business 50,000 

Ice trade 10,000 

For religious and charitable purposes 35,000 

Public amusements 30,000 

Annual regattas, fairs, &c 10,000 



$4,702,000 

Add— value of labor 1,500,000 

do real estate sales 600,000 



Total $6,702,000 

Value of Manufactures and home products for 1856: 

Jewelry $15,000 



Flour $150,000 

Rough stone from quarry 200,000 

Dressed stone 100,000 

Brick 150,000 

Lime and sand 30,000 

Lumber, sawed 25,000 

Wagons and carriages 70,000 

Plows and farming implements .... 40,000 
Planing lumber, sash, dcora and 

blinds 4o,000 

Cabinet ware 40,000 

Books and book binding 50,000 

Blank books 20,000 

Clothing 50,000 

Woolen cloths 16,000 

Ale and beer 75,000 



Tin, sheet-iron and copper ware 25,000 

Boots and shoes 20,000 

Casting and iron work 50,000 

Harness, saddles and trunks 30,000 

Bread, crackers, &c 15,000 

Confectionaries 6,000 

Gun fixtures 7,000 

Marble work 20,000 

Cigars 6,000 

Ice packed 10,000 

Sail and row boats 5,000 

Furnaces and p'.umming 3,000 



Total $1,265,000 



As an additional evidence of the large business of Madison, it may 
be mentioned, that eight and a half millions pounds of freight were re- 
ceived at the Madison Railroad Depot during 1856, and that the tolai 
receipts in money for the same period, were $277,872 34. 



MADISOX : ITS POPULATIOX. 



43 



TABLES OF POPULATION. 

Census of Madison — 1837 to 1857. 



Tear. 


Population. 


Increase. 


Rate of In- 
crease per 
cent. 


1837 


1 

62 

106 

172 

216 

283 

632 

1672 

2306 

2973 

4029 

5126 

8658 

10,000 

11,000 






1838 


61 

44 

66 

44 

67 

349 

1040 

634 

667 

1056 

1097 

3532 




1840 


71 
62 
26 
31 
121 
165 
38 
29 
35 
27 
60 


1842 


1844 


1846 


1847 


1850 


1851 


1852 . ... 


1853 


1854 


1855 


1856, estimated at 


1857, April 1st, estimated at 


1 









Census of Dane County — 1838 to 1857. 



Year. 


Population. 


Increase. 


Kate of In- 
crease per 
cent. 


1838 


172 
314 
776 
8289 
10935 
16654 
37500 
41000 
45000 






1840 


142 

462 
7513 
2646 
5719 
20846 


83 
147 
968 


1842 


1846 


1847 


32 


1850 


52 


1855 


105 






1857, April 1st, estimated at 













Census of Wisconsiii — 1820 to 1857. 

1820 1.444 

1830 3,245 

1834 5,400 

1836 11,618 

1838 18,130 

1840 30;945 

1842 44,478 

1846 155,277 

1847 210,546 

1850 305,566 

1855 552,109 

1857, estimated at 1,000,000 

Note. — In 1855, at an exciting election for GoTernor, 72,000 votes were polled, in a population 
of 652,000; and the vote of 120 000, in November 1856, would indicate a population at that time 
of 920,000 — and the increase of the ensuing five months up to April, 1857, moderately estimated, 
■would swell the number to fully 1,000,000! Wisconsin was never advancing with more gigan- 
tic strides than at thepresent moment. The Census of 1800 will astonish even the most san- 
guine — it will reach, if not exceed, a population of a jullion axd a half, without reaching the 
standard of increase of the past two years; whereas our immensely increased railroad facilities, 
and other public improvements, together with the expanding flood-tide of emigration, would nar 
turally lead us to expect even a large in rease over the past two years. With this general and 
advancing prosperity of the State, Madison, its political metropolis, will not fail to secure a large 
and merited share. 



44 



MADISOJSr BUSINESS DIRECTORY. 



LIST 



Of Attorneys, Physicians and Principal Merchants, Mechanics and Business 
Men of Madison: 



ATTORN ETS A COUNSELLORS 
AT LAW. 

Abbott, Clark & Coit, 

Atwood & Haskell, 

C Ainsworth, 

"W F Baker, 

John R Baltzell, 

A B Braley, 

J M Blake, 

D C Bush, 

Cutler & Ford, 

Frink & Carskadder, 

Thomas Hood, 

J W Johnson, 

TVm B Jai-vis, 

J Gillet Knapp, 

R W Lansing, 

H M Lewis, 

J "W" Mayhew. 

Daniel McFarland, 

J H McAvoy, 

Orton, Hopkins <fe Firmin, 

M H Orton, 

Remington & Rollins, 

Roys & Pinney, 

Smith & Keyes, 

Wakelev & Tenney, 

William Welch, 

George E Woodward. 

PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS. 

Allopathic. 
G B Chapman, 
John Favill, 
A J Ward, 
Joseph Hobbins, 
William Hobbins, 
E A Woodward, 
Alex Sclme, 
Edward W Heath, 
James J Brown, 
J P Fuchs, 
Joel Rice, 
Samuel Carman, 
Dr Fischer, 
Walter Failing. 

Homeopathic. 
J B Boweu, 
E G Bartlett 
S B Thayer. 

JEclectic. 
J C Rudd. 



REAL ESTATE DEALERS AND 
AGENTS. 

Wright & Mayers, 
James Richardson & Co, 
Catlin, Williamson and 

Bar wise, 
L J Farwell, 
Wm B Jarvis, 
Carpenter, Noyes & Go, 
Delaplaine & Burdick, 
A E Brooks, 
Chapman & Smith, 
G Ainsworth, 
James P Falkner, 
Cheney & Cleveland, 
P L Mohr, 
R S Riley, 
J W Mayhew, 

PRIVATE BANKERS. 

Catlin, Williamson, and 

Barwise, 
Wm B Jarvis, 
Cheney & Cleveland, 
Jaraes'^P Falkner, 
C Hayes & Go, 
R S Riley, 
Harris <fe Keefe, 

INSURANCE AGENTS. 

Julius T Clark, 
David Atwood, 
S G Benedict, 
E W Keyes, 
S V Shipman, 
W H Wyman, 
C Hayes & Co, 
N" H Rich. 

DRY GOODS DEALERS. 

L Guild, 

W S tfe A H Main, 
S Klaubcr & Go, 
Donaldson & T red way, 
F <fe J H Whittlesey, 
J J Starks, 
Hale (fe Harris, 
H G Dodge, 
McKey & Brothers, 
Geo Webb & Go, 
Dudley & Powers, 
A Rosentlial, 
D S Thurston, 



J G Griffin, 
J T Marston, 
Huchtings Brothel's, 
J Rodermund, 
George Ott, 
D K Butler, 
E Burrucker. 

FANCY GOODS & MILLINERY. 

R F Powers, 
Miss Barry, 
Misses McMahon, 
Miss Young, 
Misses Slots, 
Miss Buckley. 

READY MADE CLOTHING AND 
MERCHANT TAILORS. 

A G Campbell, 

S Klauber & Go, 

Friend & Crawford, 

Flesch & Fecheimer, 

Levi Strauss, 

A JN'ewhoff & Go, 

Sulsbacher & Rosenthall, 

Lodwick Jones, 

G Yagla, 

W Gnffith. 

PRINCIPAL GROCERS. 

Etheridge, Shoemaker&Oo 

Mesick & Lansing, 

B W Bowen, 

J H Foote, 

P B Marvin, 

L Davenport, 

R Kamlah & Go, 

Wright & Paine, 

F Massing, 

S Engle, 

E H Gl£ason, 

A Turner, 

P Tschudy, 

P L Carman & Go, 

]Sr A Brown, 

A P Dcerschlag, 

J C Fortin, 

Geo E Fess, 

B E Hale, 

Hale & Dickenson, 

Thomas Heeran, 

B A Atwcll, 

Mr AneeU. 



MADISON" BUSmESS DIRECTORY. 

Business List — Continued. 



45 



CONFECTIONERS AND FRUIT 
DEALERS. 

Fred Mossner, 
J J Myers. 

OLOOKS, WATCHES, AND 
JEWELRY. 

Cook & Belden, 
Gennet Brothers, 
R J Smith, 
Amos Parker, 
Ezra P Copp, 
A Scott. 

HARDWARE DEALERS. 

Tibbits & Gordon, 
Samuel R Fox, 
Gleason & Houghton, 
Adams <fe Adams, 

BOOKS, STATIONERY, PERI- 
ODICALS & BOOK-BINDING. 

D S Durrie, 
Weed, Eberhard & Co, 
Charles H Wilson, 
Grimm & MauU. 

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 

David Holt, 
C T Flowers, 
R J Smith. 

CROCKERY AND GLASSWARE. 

D C Poole. 

DRUGS, MEDICINES, OILS, &G. 

Wright & Paine, 
Colwell & Co, 
F S Woodward & Co, 
Mols & Co, 
Powers & Jones, 
H C Lee. 

CABINET WARE. 

Darwin Clark, 
O C Buck & Co, 
J Fisher & Co, 
G Barckham. 

TOBACCONISTS. 

M Strauss & Brotlier, 

C Mayer, 

F W Lindhorst. 

SADDLERS AND HARNESS 
MAKERS. 

Geo C Albee, 
T Chynoweth, 
J J Fuller, 
Wm H Worden, 
H Bodensteiner, 
M Boehmer. 



PRODUCE DEALERS. 

G A Willard & Son, 

Jas H Hill & Co, 

— And several wheat and 
grain buyers at the Rail- 
road depot. 

CARRIAGES AND WAGONS. 

Bird Brothers, 
J M Griffin, 
Barton & Wiser, 
D Wais, 
P Fields, 
Henry Berbaum, 
John Lamp, 
T Herfurth. 

PLOW MANUFACTURERS. 

Billings & Carman, 
S Haley. 

BOOT AND SHOE DEALERS. 

Geo W Gilman, 
F D Fuller, 
D M Burwell, 
A Nojes, 
H C Blanchard, 
C Beckmann. 

LEATHER DEALER. 

G V Ott. 

HAT, CAP, <fe FUR DEALERS. 

G B McGie & Co, 

DENTISTS. 

C W Cook. 
J C Howells, 
N" Chittenden, 
L G Mead, 
Geo A Hoflfman. 

ARCHITECTS. 

S V Shipman, 
Donnell & Kutzbock. 

DAGUERREOTYPISTS «fc PHO- 
TOGRAPHERS. 

Johnson & Fuller, 
Sidney Wood. 

AUCTIONEERS. 

A Childs, 
A T Bruce. 

GAS FIXTURES. 

Mr Gibbs. 

LUMBER, SHINGLES, DOORS 

AND SASH. 
H C Bull cfc Co, 
Charles Mcars & Co, 
Hibbard & Luce. 



PLANING FACTORIES. 

Stevens <fe Thayer — two 
establishments. 

FOUNDERIES AND MAOHIIfE 
SHOPS. 

Waldo Skinner, 
S Haley. 

BAKERIES. 

S H Cowles, 
J F Myers. 

MEAT MARKETS. 

Conley & Rhodes, 
Dewey & Bemis, 
Robert Nichols, 
John Weisler, 
Wm Jenkins, 
Fred Hummer, 
Jacob Kielian, 
Wm Manning. 

GUNSMITHS. 

T N Bovee, 
Herfurth & Anschutz, 
C Lamb. 

MARBLE FACTORIES, &0. 

Abijah Abbott, 
A S Wood, 
John Heerau. 

MASTER BUILDERS. 

Carpenters and Joiners — 
Karnes <fc Howard, 
Benjamin Judkins, 
Deards & Moxley, 
R White, 
E W Gardner, 
James Hopkins, 
Franklin Yial, 
S M Calkins, 
Jack & Richardson, 
R T Davis, 
C C Pierce, 
Michael Cosgrove, 
Knowles tfe Hutcliinson, 
Burwell tfe Wescott, 
C J Kidd, 
E E Wyman, 
James Campbell, 
John Myers. 

MASONS AND HOUSE CON- 
TRACTORS. 

A A Bird, 
Parkin <fe Mitchell, 
Livsey tfe CarroU, 
Andrus Vial, 
Oakley <fe Sharp, 



46 



MADISON BUSINESS DIRECTORY. 



Masons, d:e. — Continued. 
Brooks & Swift, 
W H Demarest, 
Woodhiirst & Coleman, 
Harvey & Johnson, 
Hokey & Josephs, 
E B Quinn. 

PAINTERS AND GLAZIERS. 

W P Towers, 

J W Tolford, 

J S Webster, 

Dyke &, Sons, 

S Francomb, 

A Canfield cfe Son, 

Williams & Ckristie. 

BLACKSMITHS. 

John McGregor, 
C Pearson, 
John Reiner, 
Mr Herfurth, 



Business List — Continued. 

Barton & Wiser, 

Muldoon & Thurston, 

P Fields, 

Mr Maynard, 

S L Hegan, 

John Lamp, 

Mr Renai'd. 

LrVERT STABLES. 

Dorn &. Perry, 
Dutcher & Brownwell, 
F A Pomeroy, 
American Stable, 
H Miller, 
J Huddart. 

HOTELS, 

Capital House, 
United States Hotel, 
American House, 
Madison Hotel, 
City Hotel, 



Lake House, 
Hyer's Hotel, 
Wisconsin House, 
Madison Depot House, 
Gaust Haus, 
Baltic Hotel, 
Pennsylvania House, 
Schmidt's Hotel, 
Christiana House, 
Dimock's Hotel, 
Houk House, 
National Hotel, 
New England House, 
FuUer's Hotel, 
Barry's Raihoad House, 

TIN AND SHEET IRON MAKU" 
FAOTURERS, 

Tibbits & Gordon, 
Adams <fe Adams, 
B F Perry, 
B C T Theiss. 



MADISON POST OFFICE, 



Post Master — John N. Jones, I Clerks — C, N, Moore, Geo. M. Knigh^ 

Dejmty — John H, Clark, | and Hugo Anschutz. 

Mail Arrangement. — The Mails at present arrive and depart from the Post 
Office,*^as follows : 

By Railroad, — For the East, (via Janesville and Chicago,)depart at 7 o'clock, 
A, M., and arrive at 2 o'clock, P M„ daily, except Sundays, 

For the East, (via Milwaukee,) depart at 7 A, M, and 3 P. M., and arrive at 2 
P. M. and 9 P, M, daily, except Sundays. 

For the West, (via Prairie du Chien,) depart at 1 o'clock, P. M., and arrive at 
2 o'clock, P. M„ daily, except Sundays, 

By Stage, — For the North, (via Beaver Dam and Fond du Lac,) depai-t Mon- 
days, Wednesdays and Fridays at 1 A. M„ and arrive Tuesdays, Thursdays and 
Saturdays at 12 M, 

For the North, (via Portage City,) depart at 6 A. M., and arrive at 6 P. M. 
daily, except Sundays. 

For the North, (via Baraboo,) depart Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 
6 A. M., and amve Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, at 6 P. M. 

For Pi-airie du Sac and Sauk City, depart Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, 
at 8 A. M., and arrive Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, at 4 P, M, 

For Watertown, depart at 4 A. M,, and arrive at 10 P, M, daily, except Sundays, 

For Whitewater, (via Cambridge and Fort Atkinson,) depart Mondays, Wed- 
nesdays and Fridays, at 6 A. M., and ai'rive Tuesdays, Thursdays and Satui-days 
at 6 P. M. 

For Monroe, depart Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, at 6 A. M., and arrive 
Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, at 6 P. M. 

For Janesville, (via Oregon and Union,) depart Mondays, Wednesdays and 
Fridays, at 6 A. M., and arrive Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, at 6 P. M. 

For Wiota, depart Wednesdays, at 6 A. M., and arrive Fridays at 6 P, M. 

Closing of the Mails, — The Milwaukee Mail closes at 2 P. M,; the rest at 9 P, M. 

Office Hours, — From 7 A, to 9 P, M,, during the week ; Sundays from 8 to 10 
A. M., and from 6 to 8 P, M. 



OFFICIAL DIRECTORY. 



UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. 



JPresideni—J AUKS Buchanan, of Pa. 
V. Pres't — John C. Breckinridge, Ky. 
Secretary of State — Lewis Cass, Mich, 
Secretary of War — John B. Floyd, Va. 
Secretary of Navy— Isaac Toucey, Ct. 
Sec'y of Treasury — Howell Cobb, Ga. 
Sec' y of Interior — J. Thompson, Miss. 
P. M. General— A. V. Brown, Tenn. 
AU'y General — JeremiahS. Black, Pa. 



Com. Land Office — Thos. A. Hendricks. 

Com. Ind. Affairs — G. W. Manypennt. 

Com. of Pensions — Geo. C. Whiting. 

Speaker of the House — Nath. P. Banks. 

Chief Jus. S. Court — Roger B. Taney. 

Associate Justices — John McLean, Jas. 
M. Wayne, John Catron. Peter V. 
Daniel, Sam'l Nelson, Rob't C. Grier, 
Benj. R. Curtis, John A. Campbell. 



WISCONSIN STATE GOVERNMENT. 



Governor — Coles Bashford, 
Private Secretary — B. F. Hopkins, 
Lieut. Governor — Arthur MoArthur, 
Secretary of State — David W. Jones, 
Ass. Sec'y of State — John W. Hunt, 
Treas7irer — Charles Kuehn, 
Ass. Treasurer — Carl Habich, 
Attorney General — Wm. R. Smith, 
£ank Comptroller — Wm. M. Dennis, 
Ass. Bank Comptroller — A. Menges, 
Sup't Public Instruction — A. C. Barry, 
Assistant do M. S. Barry. 

State Librarian — Horace Rublee, 
Sup't of Pub. Property — J. H. Pruess, 
State Prison Com. — Edw. Mc Garry, 
Adjutant General — Amasa Cobb, 
Commissary General — V. W. Roth. 

supreme court. 
Chief Justice — Edward V. Whiton , 
Ass. Justices — A. D. Smith, O. Cole, 
Clerk — La Fayette Kellogg. 



judges of circuit courts. 
1st Circuit — John M. Keep, Beloit, 

A.W.RANDALL,Waukesha 
C. H. Larrabee, Horicon, 
W. R.GoRSLiNE, Sheb'g'n, 
M. M. Cothren, Miu. P't, 
Geo" GaLe, La Crosse, 
Geo. W. Gate, Stevens Pt. 
S.S. N. Fuller, Hudson, 
A. L. Collins, Madison, 
S. R. Cotton, Green Bay. 
U. S. Dist. Judge — Andrew Miller. 
do Attorney — Don A. J. Upham 

united states senators. 
Hon. Charles Durkee, Windsor, 
Hon, James R. Doolittle, Racine. 

REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. 

Ut Pist. — John F. Potter, East Troy, 
2c? do C. C.WASHBURNE,Min. Point, 
3c? do C. BiLLiNGHURST, Juneau. 



2d 


do 


3d 


do 


4th 


do 


5th 


do 


6th 


do 


1th 


do 


8th 


do 


m 


do 


lOth 


do 



DANE COUNTY OFFICERS. 



Judge — D. C. Bush, 

Sheriff — John D. Welch, 

Register of Deeds — Chas. Corneliuson, 

Clerk of the Coi^ri— Myron T. Bailey, 

District Attorney — John W. Johnson. 



Treasurer — Ezra H. Gleason, 
Clerk of the Board — Edw'd G. Reuter, 
Surveyor — William M. Hough, 
Coroner— B. U. Caswell. 



[47] 



48 



OFFICIAL DIRECTORY. 



MADISON CITY OFFICERS. 



Mayor — Hon. Augustus A. Bird, 
Pres't of the Board — Hon. D. J. Powers, 
C7g^/;_ Willi AM N. Seymour, 
Treasurer — Frederick Sauthoff, 
Police Justice — A. B. Braley, 
Surveyor — William M. Hough, 
Inspectors of Wood and Hay — William 

Westerman and F. W. Lindthurst, 
Sealer of Weights aud Measures — Chas. 

G. Mayers, 

BOARD OF aldermen. 

1st Ward — Ariel E. Brooks, 

Thomas Heeran, 

Casper ZwicKey. 
2d Ward—'N. B. Van Slyke. 

D, J. Powers, 

Julius T. Clark. 
3c? Ward — Charles G. Maters, 

J. G. Griffin, 

David R, Hyer. 
4ih Ward—S. M. Van Bergen, 

Timothy Kinney, 

Joseph Hobbins. 

STANDING committees. 

Judiciary — Messrs. Clark, Powers and 
Mayers. 

Finance and Tax Claims — Messrs. Van 
Slyke, Clark aud Brooks. 

Schools and School Houses — Messrs, Hob- 
bins, Powers and Hyer. 

Claims — Messrs, Heeran Zwickey and 
Powers. 

Markets — Messrs. Kinney, Mayers and 
Griffin, 

Streets — Messrs. Powers, Heeran and 
Kinney. 

Wafer- Works — Messrs. Mayers, Brooks 
and Van Bergen, 

Fire Department — Messrs, Zwickey, 
Kinney and Van Slyke, 

Carriages, Cabs and Brays — Messrs, Hy- 
er, Griffin and Zwickey, 

Cemetery — Messrs, Brooks, Kinney and 
Clark, 

Public Pounds — Messrs. Griffin, Powers 
and Van Bergen, 

License — Messrs, Van Bergen, Zwickey 
and Heeran. 



Printing — Messrs, Van Slyke, Kinney 

and Heeran, 
Health— Messrs. Hobbins, Powers and 

Hyer, 
Ordinances — Messrs. Clai'k, Mayers and 

Brooks. 

WARD officers. 

Assessors — 

1st Ward — L. M. JS'eedham, 
2d do E. S. Oakley, 
3c? do George Ott, 
4th do F. Ritchie, 



Justices of the Peace — 


1st Ward- 
2d do 
3d do 
4th do 


-D, H. Wright, 
John W. Hunt, 
H, L, Foster, 
D, C. Bush, 


Constables — 




1st Ward- 
2d do 
3a' do 
4th do 


-John Collins, 
J. Jacks, 
J, Reese, 
R. Hughes, 


fire DEPARTMENT, 



Chief Engineer — John M, Griffin, 
First Ass. Engineer — Thos, Muldooit, 
Second do Casper ZwiOKxr. 

Fire Wardens — 

1st Ward — Andrus Vial, 
2c? do John JS", Jones, 
3c? do A. Menges, 
4th do Henry Wright, 

Engine Company, No. 1 — 

Foreman — C, A, Johnson, 
1st Assistant — W, Babcock, 
2d do O, C, Buck, 

Secretary — Wm, H, Holt, 
Treasurer — Dr, J, C. Rudd, 

Engine Company, JVo. 2 — 

Foreman — G, F, C. Memhard, 
1st Assistant — Jacob Schminkb, 
2d do Fred. Dinglemajt, 

Secretary — Marcus Kohner, 
Treasurer — Fred. Sauthoff, 
Steward — August Herfurth. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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